Who is the director of Fifty Shades of Grey?

When the official announcement was made on who would be taking the director’s chair for the Fifty Shades of Grey movie, the first question many asked was “who?”

Sam Taylor-Johnson is not exactly a household name, particularly when we think back to some of the big time celebrity names that had made the director list, such as Angelina Jolie and Channing Tatum.

Fifty Shades of Grey is going to be the movie of the decade, however the choices so far in its screenwriter and now its director are unusual. For such a high profile movie, which has interest from huge stars, it’s refreshingly surprising to see unknowns getting a chance in its production.

First, we had Kelly Marcel, who was brought on board to write the screenplay, much to the annoyance of American Psycho author Bret Easton Ellis, who was very vocal about wanting the job.

Now, we have Taylor-Johnson, who has been picked up as director for the erotic drama, who will work along side E.L. James and the producers Mike de Luca and Dana Brunetti, known for their work on the Social Network. Yet, we’re still scratching our heads over the director choice – especially since Sam Taylor-Johnson isn’t well known in the Hollywood film-making circles at all. At present, she has put her name to “Nowhere Boy” a movie about John Lennon, that made the festival circles a while back, which is really only known to film buffs.

In fact, what is interesting about Taylor-Johnson is that she’s quite the acclaimed visual artist, and has even won the prestigious Turner Prize. The fact that Focus Features, Universal Studios and E.L. James have brought her on board, could point to the direction they want the movie to go in. It looks like Fifty Shades of Grey the movie could become a more serious, artistic exploration of the most talked about relationship.

If you have heard of Taylor-Johnson before, perhaps it could be due to all the tabloid attention her marriage has garnered, after she married the much younger star from her film “Nowhere Boy” when he was 20 and she was 43. Some even speculate that Aaron Johnson, now 23, might be in the line up to play Christian Grey, although perhaps the director is more interested in keeping the drama behind the camera without getting her private life involved.