Producers Found For Fifty Shades of Grey

"Moneyball" and "The Social Network" producers Mike De Luca and Dana Brunetti have won a bidding war to produce the upcoming film adaptation of the erotic E L James book Fifty Shades of Grey says The Hollywood Reporter.

They beat out Ron Howard and Brian Grazer; Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson; Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher and Scott Stuber.

What began as a posting on a fan-fiction website as a tribute to author Stephenie Meyer 's Twilight books soon became a word-of-mouth eBook hit that won a major reprint deal with Random House.

The sexually-explicit story follows 27-year-old billionaire Christian Grey and 22-year-old virgin college student Anastasia Steele, who develop a relationship steeped in bondage, S&M, domination and submission. The novel is the first in a planned trilogy.

The pair were personally picked by James for the film version. James has sold 31 million e-book and print copies in English-language markets worldwide, in the U.S. alone she has sold over 20 million copies in e-book and print.

Separate searches are underway to find the right person to star in, adapt, and direct