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Sam Taylor-Johnson to direct "Fifty Shades of Grey"

"Fifty Shades of Grey" has found its director.

Sam Taylor-Johnson has signed on to direct the film adaptation of E.L. James' bestselling book, it was announced Wednesday.

"I am excited to be charged with the evolution of 'Fifty Shades of Grey' from page to screen," Taylor-Johnson said in a statement, according to Deadline. "For the legions of fans, I want to say that I will honor the power of Erika's book and the characters of Christian and Anastasia. They are under my skin too."

Taylor-Johnson is best known for her directorial debut "Nowhere Boy," which starred her husband, "Kick Ass" star Aaron Taylor-Johnson, as a young John Lennon.

No casting news has yet been announced for the film, which could potentially get an NC-17 rating. But one thing's for sure -- Emma Watson won't be playing the role of seduced college student Anastasia Steele. She made that pretty clear in March when she tweeted: "Who here actually thinks I would do 50 Shades of Grey as a movie? Like really. For real. In real life. Good. Well that's sorted then."

Armie Hammer also refuted rumors about him playing Christian Grey, telling Playboy, "No one actually offered me the movie, but while I was working on 'Lone Ranger' my agent brought it up, and I said 'Nope.' I mean, come on -- it's just mommy porn. I'm not going to sit on top of the laundry machine in spin cycle reading about putting a ball gag in someone's mouth. That doesn't do it for me."

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