Charlie Hunnam and Dakota Johnson cast in Fifty Shades of Grey movie adaptation

It was rumoured a couple of days ago that Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam was in the running for the role of Christian Grey in the movie adaptation of popular novel series Fifty Shades of Grey, and he has now been confirmed by the author E.L. James (via Twitter) along with Dakota Johnson (The Social Network) as Anastasia Steele.

The erotic book series took the world by storm last year, selling over 70 million copies Worldwide.

Hunnam recently starred in Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim in which he played Raleigh Becket.

Johnson is the daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith and this will be her first major film role outside of 21 Jump Street.

The author sent out the following tweets today to break the news:

With a release date penned down for August 1st 2014, expect shooting of Fifty Shades of Grey to start very soon. Here's the official press release from Universal...

Charlie Hunnam will star as Christian Grey, the lead male character in Universal Pictures and Focus Features’ highly anticipated film adaptation of “Fifty Shades of Grey,” it was announced today. He joins Dakota Johnson, who will star opposite him as Anastasia Steele. The film, which will be released by Focus Features on August 1, 2014 in North America, is being directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and produced by Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti alongside E L James, the author of the #1 bestselling book on which the film is based. The screenplay is by Kelly Marcel. The announcement about Mr. Hunnam’s casting in Fifty Shades of Grey was made today by Ms. James.

Mr. Hunnam currently stars as a regular on the critically acclaimed FX series Sons of Anarchy. His feature film credits include Pacific Rim, Children of Men, Cold Mountain, and Nicholas Nickleby.

“Fifty Shades of Grey” has become a global phenomenon and the trilogy has been translated in 50 languages worldwide since its release. To date, the “Fifty Shades” trilogy has sold over 70 million copies worldwide in e-book and print, making it one of the fastest-selling book series ever.

Universal and Focus acquired the rights to the three books in the “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy in March 2012. Focus Features will market and distribute the first film in partnership with Universal.

“Fifty Shades of Grey” follows the relationship of 27-year-old billionaire Christian Grey and college student Anastasia Steele. Subsequent novels in the series, “Fifty Shades Darker” and “Fifty Shades Freed,” explore the couple’s deepening relationship.