Starz CEO Chris Albrecht revealed on Friday during the Television Critics Association summer press tour that he attempted to bring Fifty Shades of Grey to the network.
Albrecht revealed he was willing to offer up a three-season commitment just to bring the popular EL James' work to Starz, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"I'm the guy who called up Universal and said, 'I'll get you three years on the air as a series,'" the CEO said while talking about upcoming romance series Outlander. "Let's just do a Fifty shades of Grey series."
Alas, he noted, no one seemed interested, except simply to be polite. "Movie people think things are movies, and authors think things are movies. Up until recently, movies were the Tiffany jewel in the crown."
It was also revealed that Starz has decided to split the upcoming period romance Outlander in half, with the first eight episodes airing as originally planned, starting in early August, and the second half moving to early 2015.
Fifty Shades is set for a Valentine's Day 2015 theatrical release, with Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson starring.
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