'Nowhere Boy' director to make '50 Shades' film

British director Sam Taylor-Johnson will direct a movie version of erotic best-seller "Fifty Shades of Grey," the studios behind the project announced Wednesday.

Taylor-Johnson, who was nominated for a BAFTA for 2009's "Nowhere Boy" about John Lennon, will make the film for Universal Pictures and Focus Features, based on a screenplay by Kelly Marcel.

"Sam's unique ability to gracefully showcase complex relationships dealing with love, emotion and sexual chemistry make her the ideal director to bring Christian and Anastasia's relationship to life," said producer Michael De Luca.

"E L James's characters and vivid storytelling require a director who is willing to take risks and push the envelope where needed, and Sam is a natural fit," he added in a statement.

Forty-six year-old Taylor-Johnson -- who changed her name from Sam Taylor-Wood after marrying "Nowhere Boy" star Aaron Johnson, 23, last year -- said she was "excited" to bring the book to the silver screen.

"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," she said.

Spiced up with sado-masochism, the 2011 novel was the first part of a trilogy about a relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, and a young business magnate, Christian Grey.

The two studios acquired the rights to the three books in the "Fifty Shades" trilogy -- which also included "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades Freed" -- in March 2012.

The trilogy has been translated into 50 languages, and sold over 70 million copies worldwide in ebook and print, making it one of the fastest-selling book series ever, they said.