'Fifty Shades of Grey' Movie Release Date: Debut Set For Berlin Film Festival 2015

Based on the first novel by E.L. James, the upcoming "Fifty Shades of Grey" movie is set to make its debut in the Berlin Film Festival. News of the debut first broke Monday. Since then it has been described as an attempt by Universal and Focus Pictures to garner a legitimate audience for the BDSM-inspired film.

Several other sources have stated that the prestigious film festival could also be looking to get more attention by showing the risqué film, which it plans to air once with actors Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan in the audience.

Filming for "Fifty Shades of Grey" kicked off with its fair share of controversy with then rumored star Emma Watson hinting on Twitter that she would never work on the film, which is based on the much derided piece of fan fiction. It also did not help when Salman Rushdie stated that the book made the Twilight Saga look like "War and Peace."

Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson "Fifty Shades of Grey" also got some bad press when Charlie Hunnam landed the role of Christian Grey only to let it drop a few days later, blaming his tight schedule.

The movie's leads -- Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson -- have also voiced their concerns that the movie might not be as successful as the book series, which has sold over 100 million copies so far. While this is not encouraging news for the film, the Berlin Film Festival has reposed faith in it, noting in its press release that it will debut on Feb. 11, a few days before the film is set to begin screening in the United States.

While the showing at the Berlinale is good news for the film, it might be enough to get a serious minded audience into theaters to see the movie. Several trade websites have predicted that most of the film's audience is going to be largely comprised of those who have already read the book.