Following a bidding war that none of us particularly cared about, Deadline reports that Universal and Focus Features have emerged victorious, paid somewhere around $3 million, and will adapt the S & M e-book sensation Fifty Shades of Grey. Penned by E.L. James, Grey revolves around the sexual adventures of Anastasia Steele, a college student who finds herself in an erotic, dangerous, steamy, you-name-it relationship with a late-20s entrepreneur, Christian Grey. This combination of frank prose and wish fulfillment has made it a… hot commodity among studios, and, what’s more, it’s the first in a trilogy. We all know how much studios love that.

With such risque content being a big selling point — and with major studios not always willing to go to “those” places — anyone who actually wants Fifty Shades of Grey will have to seek it out through Focus Features. I don’t necessarily see trashy pulp transforming into an art house picture, yet I hope that certain elements can otherwise get through, minus any huge controversy. (Think Shame, if my assumptions about this project are correct.) Good for them; a certain freedom in content and independent spirit might be the only thing that can generate any interest in Grey on my own part.

Will you be lining up for Fifty Shades? Is this the right studio?