Gus Van Sant & Alex Pettyfer Shoot Fifty Shades of Grey Test Scene

Alex Pettyfer in Magic Mike

Ever since Universal snapped up the rights to Fifty Shades Of Grey, with plans to make a steamy movie version, there’s been a lot of interest in who would star and direct. Now gay Good Will Hunting and Promised Land helmer Gus Van Sant is making a bid for the directing job, as The Wrap reports that he’s shot a test scene with Alex Pettyfer playing Christian Grey.

The scene is apparently the one where naive college student Anastasia Steele loses her virginity to the kinky Grey.

Of course, shooting a test scene and getting the job are different things, and there’s no guarantee either Van Sant or Pettyfer will be involved in the final movie, but it certainly gives Universal a strong option. The scene was apparently completely unsolicited, but shows the director and actor’s interest.

There are still hurdles for the adaptation, not least translating the BDSM heavy ‘mommy porn’ tome into something that US cinemas will accept (particularly difficult as if it gets an adults-only NC-17 rating, many theatres won’t book it, and some newspapers won’t even accept ads). Kelly Marcel is currently writing the script.

However, as Brett Easton Ellis ignited controversy for saying Matt Bomer was ‘too gay’ to play Christian Grey last year, we’ll have to wait and see if he thinks Gus Van Sant is too gay to direct.