I can’t say I ever expected this (pardon) bonding of source material and producers, but Deadline reports that Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca (The Social Network) will produce Universal and Focus Features’ Fifty Shades of Grey. You could also read that as: Two people who helped bring one of the new millennium’s best films to life are, now, springing upon us the literature sensation that’s given soccer moms a whole new lease on their sex life. You never know in this town.

Such a movement is, like it or not, a big one for the project, since Brunetti and De Luca will now help the studios find a helmer and cast. Names aren’t necessarily “out there” right now, but Deadline does insist that Angelina Jolie is still a part of the conversation; I never bought much into what seemed like, at best, speculation rooted in whispers, but I wouldn’t really mind the choice. (Sorry, Ellis.) It could make pulp a more interesting conversation piece.

Some potentially less ridiculous projects — in which a mobster is possessed by a violent, ancient spirit — are brewing over at Regency, as it’s reported that Len Wiseman is looking to partner with producers David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman (The Fighter, The Muppets) on The Darkness; David Manpearl, he of Mandeville, is also looking to get involved, as are Top Cow’s Marc Silvestri and Matt Hawkins. Some might remember the video game that came out in 2007 and, while you’re on the right track, it’s (arguably) best known for being a comic series. [Collider]

Said series has had a pretty long run and, obviously, accrued a fan base in that time, so the eventual film — so long as it gets off the ground — will have some real attention swirling around it. I’ve only played the first game, myself, and, despite that being some time ago, was taken with the interesting moral dichotomy faced by the main character. Wiseman might not let that seep into an eventual film adaptation (sorry for making judgements based on numerous past projects), but one can hope.

Could Brunetti and De Luca elevate Fifty Shades? Is The Darkness capable of being a good film?