As was anticipated, director Sam Taylor-Johnson has now officially removed herself from the sequels to **Fifty Shades Of Grey. Having navigated the first film in the trilogy to impressive worldwide box office of $528m through particularly choppy development seas, she's relinquishing the helm to someone else for Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed.
"Directing Fifty Shades Of Grey has been an intense and incredible journey for which I am hugely grateful," Taylor-Johnson said in a statement to Deadline. "I have [studio] Universal to thank for that. I forged close and lasting relationships with the cast, producers and crew and most especially, with Dakota [Johnson] and Jamie [Dornan]. While I will not be returning to direct the sequels, I wish nothing but success to whosoever takes on the exciting challenges of films two and three.”
That circumspect exit line doesn't, of course, mention her fractious relationship with original Fifty Shades author EL James, which has been widely reported elsewhere. Taylor-Johnson and James apparently butted heads throughout the entire production about the specifics of the adaptation.
Many have suggested that the film's success, both artistic and commercial, is in spite of James rather than because of her. But it's James that wields, for a first-time author, unprecedented power behind the scenes. The search is now underway for a new director that can work with her.
Existing contracts mean that Dornan will be back for the sequels as billionaire Christian Grey, and Johnson will return as Anastasia Steele. There are no start or release dates yet, but Fifty Shades Darker is currently expected in 2017.