It's official. Charlie Hunnam has dropped out of "50 Shades of Grey," US Weekly reports. Universal Pictures and Focus Features made the announcement that the "Sons of Anarchy" star will be replaced in the movie due to "his busy schedule."
"The filmmakers of 'Fifty Shades of Grey' and Charlie Hunnam have agreed to find another male lead given Hunnam's immersive TV schedule which is not allowing him time to adequately prepare for the role of Christian Grey," the studios said in a statement.
Hunnam was confirmed on Labor Day to star opposite Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele in the highly anticipated movie. The actor has been very vocal about playing the kinky billionaire telling reporters that he was excited and more-than-ready to bring Christian Grey to life on the big screen.
Hunnam also credited his chemistry with Johnson as another main reason he wanted to be in the movie. Even producers said the two had a tangible chemistry that they felt would translate well in the movie.
"I started reading with Dakota I knew that I definitely wanted to do it," he said. "There's just like a tangible chemistry between us. It felt exciting and fun and weird and compelling."
It was rumored last week that Hunnam was having second thoughts but James tried to quiet the rumor by tweeting a picture with the 33-year-old actor. Following the news that Hunnam will no longer be in the movie James tweeted: "I wish Charlie all the best. X"
The Hollywood Reporter was first to break the news. Sources told the website that the actor "was overwhelmed with the attention he received from the movie and got cold feet about carrying such a high-profile project."
It was reported that Universal was forced to hire bodyguards at the premiere of "Sons of Anarchy" because of all the attention he was getting. The sources claim Hunnam didn't have any reservations about the role itself but was not ok with all the media attention that came along with it.
This exit leaves Universal and producers Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti in a tough spot. The studio has already given the film a release date of Aug. 1, 2014 and a delay of this magnitude will more than likely push the release date back.
Not long after James made the casting decision fans began to boycott it demanding that Hunnam and Johnson be replaced with Matt Bomer and Alexis Bledel.
Now that Hunnam has officially backed out producers might consider giving the role to one of the fan-favorites. Matt Bomer, Ian Somerhalder and Henry Cavill were the top actors fans wanted to see as Christian Grey. It was also reported that James wanted Robert Pattinson to play the lead role.
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