NEW YORK — What do you get when you take one of the year’s biggest box office hits — “Fifty Shades of Grey” — and turn it over to funny man Marlon Wayans?
Christian Grey is turning into Christian Black in Wayans’ spoof “Fifty Shades of Black,” which has been picked up by Open Road Films for release next January.
Wayans, known for writing and starring in cinematic sendups like “White Chicks” and his “Scary Movie” films, says he thought it would be funny to do a comedic take on the erotic film, which is based on the novel of the same name.
“What if Christian Grey was black and he was rich but you kind of know how he got his money, it’s kind of shady and he’s a really bad lover? I mean it’s kind of similar to the movie,” Wayans said with a laugh. “They had all these scenes and I was like, a funny version of this and a funny version of that and before you knew it we had a really funny script.”
He was interviewed Thursday while promoting the summer competition TV series he’s hosting, “I Can Do That,” which airs Tuesdays on NBC.
Wayans will star and co-write the “Fifty Shades” spoof with longtime collaborator Rick Alvarez. The film will be directed by Michael Tiddes, who helmed both of Wayans’ “Haunted House” movies. He is still working on his female lead but says “Fifty Shades of Black” will likely feature faces that fans have seen in his other films, such as Affion Crockett and Cedric the Entertainer.
But don’t expect any “red room of pain” in the Wayans spoof. He says in his film, the “playroom” will probably be something like “chartreuse or turquoise or some ugly random color.”
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