Domestic violence campaigners in North America are calling on cinemagoers to boycott the forthcoming Fifty Shades of Grey movie and instead donate to charity organisations. A social media campaign using the hash tag #50dollarsnot50shades argues that the $50 cost of a cinema ticket and snacks would be better served supporting shelters that support abused women.

Fifty Shades of GreyDakota Johnson plays Anastasia Steele in Fifty Shades of Grey

The movie adaptation of E.L James' erotic novel stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan and will be released on Valentines' Day.

"The money you would have spent on movie tickets and a babysitter or movie tickets, popcorn and drinks will go towards serving victims of abusive relationships like the one glamorised in the 50 Shades series," says the campaign on its Facebook page. "Hollywood doesn't need your money; abused women do."

More: Fifty Shades avoids NC-17 rating - but what does it mean?

Fifty Shades of Grey tells the story of a billionaire who begins a relationship with the submissive Anastasia Steele. 

Director Sam Taylor-Johnson told the Guardian that she wanted to portray the relationship in a balanced way.

"I thought, if we can take this girl on a journey, where we empower her and don't leave her as a victim, that's job done," she said. "We start with Anastasia coming into his world and grappling with it - so she's an autonomous person.. Yes, the film is hardcore in places, there's dominance in places - but at no point did I feel like it had crossed a boundary."

More: Fifty Shades of Grey has 20 minutes of sex scenes (film runs 100 minutes)

Analysts predict Fifty Shades of Grey could make $60 million on its opening weekend in the U.S and should finish 2015 as one of the year's biggest movies. The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) in the UK gave the movie 18 certificate earlier this week, citing "strong sex and nudity, along with the portrayal of erotic role play based on domination, submission and sado-masochistic practices". 

In the U.S, the movie escaped the more restrictive NC-17 rating.