Fifty Shades of Grey movie begins filming

The movie adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey, the bestselling erotic novel by E.L. James, has started filming in westernmost Canada, AFP reports. Due to be released on Valentine's Day 2015, the first of the trilogy began shooting in Vancouver's historic cobblestone Gastown neighborhood on Sunday, said the daily Vancouver Sun. Film records show it is scheduled to wrap up in February. The 2011 book with its explicitly erotic scenes featuring bondage and sadism/masochism has topped best-seller lists around the world, shifting more than 90 million copies in 52 languages. The second and third volumes, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, were published in 2012. Actor Jamie Dornan was cast as the young business magnate Christian Grey, who takes a romantic interest in literature student Anastasia Steele, played by Dakota Johnson. The film is being directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson. Filmed under the code name "The Adventures of Max & Banks," the film is reportedly to be released in two versions: one that is sexually explicit to satisfy fans' expectations and one that is softer for a general audience. The New York Daily News reported that Charlie Hunnam was originally cast as Grey, but dropped out of the project just weeks before filming began.