Charlie Hunnam Turned Down This $1.3 Billion Movie Franchise That’s Now Streaming on Peacock

image by FX

Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam was initially cast to star in a massive $1.3 billion film franchise — Fifty Shades of Grey. All three films in the franchise are now streaming on Peacock.

Actor Jamie Dornan would go on to star as the billionaire Christian Grey in the erotic romance movies based on E.L. James’ novels that explore a BDSM relationship between a businessman and a recent college graduate (Dakota Johnson). It was revealed that Universal initially cast Hunnam for the role, but he later dropped out of the project. While the exact reason for his exit was said to be due to Hunnam’s schedule, fans have speculated that the initial backlash over the casting decision was one of the real reasons Hunnam departed from the hugely successful franchise.

Charlie Hunnam, who is known for portraying Jax Teller on Sons of Anarchy, starred as Lindsay “Lin” Ford in a short-lived Apple TV+ series, Shantaram.

One month before the film began filming, Universal shared its official reason for why Hunnam withdrew from Fifty Shades of Grey, saying: “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.”

Nonetheless, the Fifty Shades of Grey movies went on to be a massive commercial success for Universal, even without Hunnam attached. The first film premiered in 2015 and was an immediate box office smash, breaking multiple records and grossing over $569 million worldwide on a budget of just $40 million. Critics weren’t so enamored with the film, though, and it received overwhelmingly negative reviews and even picked up the Razzie Award for Worst Picture — an award it shared with 20th Century Fox’s failed Fantastic Four reboot.

Fifty Shades of Grey was followed up with two sequels, Fifty Shades Darker in 2017 and Fifty Shades Freed in 2018. Similar to their predecessors, both sequels received negative reviews but remained a commercial success for the studio. Fifty Shades Darker grossed $381 million, and Freed pulled in $372 million. Both were also nominated for multiple Razzies.

Charlie Hunnam got famous for Sons of Anarchy, but his underrated Western film is a must-see for fans of the genre.

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Hunnam’s career has remained steady even after the conclusion of Sons of Anarchy and despite not taking part in the commercially successful Fifty Shades of Grey franchise. Recent years have seen him starring in movies like Zack Snyder’s epic space opera Rebel Moon alongside Ray Fisher and Sofia Boutella, as well as the 2022 mystery film Last Looks with Mel Gibson and Morena Baccarin.

Next, Hunnam is poised to return to television in the third season of Netflix and Ryan Murphy’s biographical crime drama anthology series, Monster. The new season, which is reportedly titled The Original Monster, will focus on Ed Gein, the real-life murderer known as the Butcher of Plainfield. Hunnam will star as Gein, with Laurie Metcalf playing his mother, Augusta. A premiere date for the new season has not been announced at this time.