'Fifty Shades' movie gets release date, cast a mystery

This summer is still heating up, but next summer expects to be even hotter -- on the big screen.

"Fifty Shades of Grey," the surprise fan fiction-turned-best-selling novel from E.L. James, will hit theaters on August 1, 2014, studio Focus Features said.

Universal Pictures International will handle distribution worldwide, but global release dates have not yet been revealed.

Neither of the film's leads has been cast, although the likes of Alex Pettfyer, Ian Somerhalder, Ryan Gosling and even Robert Pattinson have been linked as possibilities for the titular Christian Grey.

The film does have a director, "Nowhere Boy" skipper Sam Taylor-Johnson.

More than 70 million copies of "Fifty Shades of Grey" and its sequels have been sold worldwide.