Baz Luhrmann Directing Elvis Presley Biopic from 'Fifty Shades of Grey' Writer

Baz Luhrmann has spent the months following The Great Gatsby setting up projects on the big and small screen, none of which sound like what we'd normally expect from the director. Most recently he was said to be eying a big screen remake of Kung-Fu, while on the small screen he's got Stanley Kubrick's Napoleon and a series on old school hip-hop. The latest addition is another one out of left field, as he's now attached to direct an Elvis Presley biopic.

Luhrmann is now in talks with Warner Bros. to direct an untitled biopic on "The King", penned by Fifty Shades of Grey writer Kelly Marcel. This won't be an adaptation but an original screenplay set during an undetermined period in Elvis' life. The rights to Elvis' music have been secured, overcoming a hurdle the Jimi Hendrix biopic All Is By My Side couldn't.

Now let's see if Marcel's story rubs the powerful Elvis estate the wrong way. That tends to be how these musical biopics go. [TheWrap]

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'Fifty Shades of Grey' finds a screenwriter in Kelly Marcel

Normally, the news that a film has landed a screenwriter doesn't rate as all that notable for me, but when it involves the BDSM hit novel Fifty Shades of Grey, well it's a pretty big deal. The book, which has become an erotic sensation with women everywhere, will be adapted by fast-rising scribe Kelly Marcel, and she's got a pretty tough job ahead of her.

This will be the most high profile gig for Marcel yet, although she's been climbing the ranks of Hollywood's best writers over the last few months. She got her biggest break as a writer and exec-producer on the failed Terra Nova TV series, and also provided the screenplay for Saving Mr. Banks, the upcoming Disney biopic starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson. Adapting E.L. James' novel is going to pose her biggest challenge yet, as she must find a way to bring the bawdy and risque sexual content to the screen in a way that doesn't turn casual filmgoers off and raise a red flag with the MPAA. This isn't Secretary we're talking about here, and we could be looking at a situation where some serious toning down could be needed to secure an R-rating. But that also runs the risk of alienating the millions who love the book just as it is. Tough situation, indeed.

As for now, there's still no director or actors attached, and as you can imagine fans have been pretty vocal about their choices. Some of the popular picks to play 27-year old billionaire Christian Grey are Alexander Skarsgard, Robert Pattinson, Ian Somerhalder, Michael Fassbender, and Matt Bomer. Anna Kendrick, Alexis Bledel, Mila Kunis, and Emma Watson are just a few of the names some think could fit as the innocent Ana Steele, who becomes Grey's sexual slave.

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