Fans of "Fifty Shades of Grey" will surely be delighted with the new reports coming up lately. The sequel of E L James' bestseller "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades Freed" are set to shoot back-to-back next year.
Yes, you read it right both "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades Freed" will be filmed next year and both will be directed by James Foley, TheWrap reported. The lead stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson will reprise their roles as Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele, respectively. Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti will return to produce alongside James.
Niall Leonard worked on the script. He is intimately familiar with the character, given that it's the work of art of his wife, James.
"Fifty Shades" was a global phenomenon. The first film in the franchise was able to heat up theaters in February with gross earning of over $560 million worldwide.
"Fifty Shades Darker" is slated for release on Feb. 10, 2017, while "Fifty Shades" will follow a year after, it is scheduled for release on Feb 9, 2017. The series establish February as a new tentpole corridor for Universal, who will be releasing it. The films are timed for the romantic Valentine's Day Holiday.
Earlier reports claimed that "Fifty Shades Darker" is experiencing delays after Director Sam Taylor-Johnson announced that she will not be returning for the sequel, but she wished James "nothing but success." When "Fifty Shades of Grey" was still filming, it was reported that there was a tension on set between Taylor-Johnson and James, according to Internatonal Business Times.
Aside from Taylor-Johnson, screenwriter Kelly Marcel was replaced by James' husband Leonard. After all the dilly-dally looks like all is well now. Filming will be pushed though next year, so probably, there will be no delays.
Meanwhile, last September, "Fifty Shades Darker" lead actress Johnson expressed her excitement into her comeback to the world of Anastasia and her emotionally distant lover Grey. "It's quite exciting," she told Empire. She also expressed her fears on working with a new director, but she believes in Foley's talent.
"There was a moment of being afraid because I didn't know what it was going to be like. I had an experience with Sam [Taylor-Johnson] and then that all went away," Johnson said. "Now I'm excited. I think James is a talented filmmaker. How often do you get to reconvene with the same people and have a different spin?"
When the actress was asked if she already meet the director and if his attack to the scene is different from Taylor-Johnson's, she just said, "I have. You'll just have to see when the movie comes out..."
Will James spin the sequels better than Taylor-Johnson? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
