While James hoped to pen the Fifty Shades Darker script after Kelly Marcel exited the franchise, Universal eventually compromised by giving the job to Niall Leonard – her husband.
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But Fifty Shades Darker, the literary Fifty Shades of Grey sequel, was a foregone conclusion after that first film shattered February opening records with $85 million in a single weekend, and an over-performing $569.7 million worldwide. The studio is still working out whether or not they should shoot both Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed back-to-back.
Execs had been meeting with directors over the past several months since announcing that Sam Taylor-Johnson, who directed the first of the trilogy, would not be returning as director.
“Fifty Shades of Grey” was probably the most talked about erotica movie, and book, of all time, and with it being a three-book series, moviegoers are already pumped to see what the sequel has in store on the big screen. There were some concerns about the chemistry between Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan; assuming Universal does in fact hand him the reins perhaps a director like Foley can coax a bit more out the duo.
Foley is best known for his dark thrillers Fear and ideal Stranger, the David Mamet adaptation Glengarry Glen Ross, as well as directing a number of episodes for the critically acclaimed Netflix series House of Cards. Despite being strongly criticized by some, “Fifty Shades of Grey” proved to be a massive hit at the box office and helped to kick off Universal Studio’s record-setting year. “Directing “Fifty Shades of Grey” has been an intense and incredible journey for which I am hugely grateful”.
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Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson are the the only two confirmed to return. Luckily for fans, the studio is close to finding the right choice, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The process to make the decision final will begin early next week, and it seems as though Foley is the frontrunner. Taylor-Johnson often clashed with James over creative control, with James often being very opinionated and very demanding.
