‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ producers De Luca and Brunetti: A primer

The heated competition to produce the film version of E.L. James’ “Fifty Shades of Grey” has yielded a winner, with producers Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti winning the prize gig. The pair, who will produce alongside James at Universal pictures/Focus Features, now will set about hiring a director and stars for the adaptation of the S&M; literary sensation.

Here are a few things to know about De Luca and Brunetti.

— The pair have a prestige pedigree, teaming on “The Social Network” in 2010, for which they were nominated for best picture. That’s continued with recent work — De Luca’s tony effort could be seen last year with “Moneyball” (also a best picture nominee). And Brunetti, like De Luca, is behind the upcoming Paul Greengrass-Tom Hanks drama “Captain Phillips,” based on the story of a Somali pirate incident. So get the Oscar podium ready. Or something.

— Brunetti is the producing partner of Kevin Spacey at the actor’s Trigger Street Prods. In addition to “Captain Phillips,” Trigger Street recently produced “Safe,” the Jason Statham bloodfest.

— De Luca knows the “Fifty Shades” material firsthand. A bad-boy producer with a penchant for partying in the 1990s, he was involved in a notorious tabloid-ready incident involving a certain sex act at the home of Hollywood veteran Arnold Rifkin. He recently said his partying days were a cry for help.

—Youth will be served in the story of twentysomething ribaldry: At 39, Brunetti is one of the younger A-list producers out there. Born in 1965, De Luca had a wunderkind past that includes a senior job at New Line when he was 27 — incidentally, the same age as Christian Grey in the book.

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