Taylor-Johnson's previous films include 2008's Love You More and the 2010 Sundance film Nowhere Boy, which our Todd Brown quite liked, despite the challenges that the film's conceit has to overcome.
The director's also received loads of tabloid press, for better or for worse, for marrying the much younger Aaron "Kick-Ass" Taylor-Johnson. Expect much to be made of this again when the tale of an older man seducing a younger woman gets bandied about in the tabloid media.
I've not read the book, but do find the whole notion of what the New York Times described as "mommy porn" a mix of fascinating and repulsive. Many have argued that the success of the book is very much tied to the e-book revolution, where people can't be as readily judged as they read on the subway or poolside. Similarly, arguments have been made that for a certain demographic, scenes of sexual brutality are eroticized via the written word, where the stark visualization brought by film (or, of course, video) is off-putting to some.
The big test of this film, I think, will be how to make it as hot as the book, but still open to a larger audience.
I'd personally much rather take my artful look into sadomasochism in the form of a Kubrick or even Von Trier, but the E. L. James fans who can't get enough of the socially acceptable smut will hopefully come out in droves to support the flick. At the least, I'm assuming that those dressing up for the premiere will be making quite the entrance.