Video: ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ trailer is more breathy than brazen

A new trailer for “Fifty Shades of Grey” has arrived to stoke the ardor of fans of the bestselling erotic novel, and to pique the interest of the uninitiated.

Set to a slow-burning version of Beyonce’s “Haunted,” the two-and-a-half-minute video introduces Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey, a hunky but domineering billionaire with “very singular” (read: kinky) tastes, and Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele, the mousy college student who falls under his spell. (Watch the trailer above.)

Since Universal Pictures acquired film rights to E.L. James’ massively popular book — which singlehandedly ushered in the “mommy porn” genre and has sold a reported 100 million copies — the big question has been how explicit the adaptation will be. James’ novel, which originated as a piece of self-published “Twilight” fan fiction, doesn’t shy away from S&M, and a truly faithful adaptation would conceivably land an NC-17 rating, limiting box-office potential.

From the glimpses we’ve seen so far, it looks as though director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s take on “Fifty Shades” will be somewhat toned down from the book, more erotic than explicit. The latest trailer, for example, features its share of steamy moments — both stars in various states of undress, a room full of bondage equipment, strategic use of an ice cube — but they’re offset by lots of longing stares, gasps for breath and exchanges like this one:

Anastasia: Why are you trying to change me?
Christian: I’m not. It’s you that’s changing me.

Granted, a trailer can only be so graphic. But in a recent interview with the Guardian, Dornan said he won’t be revealing too much in the film. “There were contracts in place that said that viewers wouldn’t be seeing my, um ...,” he said.

“Fifty Shades of Grey” opens Feb. 13, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

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