Things are moving apace on the Fifty Shades front, and it appears all involved are being locked into a slightly longer contract as director James Foley and his cast will be shooting both Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed in one sweaty, angsty block.
That both of E.L. James’ follow-up tomes would get the cinematic treatment was almost a given thanks to the first film, which featured Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson as the loved (or mostly sexed) up duo Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele, and earned more than $560 million worldwide. But while no official announcement had previously been made about a back-to-back shooting schedule for the movies, that is now the case, with Foley starting work next year ready for Darker to arrive on February 10, 2017 and Freed to follow on Feb 9, 2018.
Niall Leonard, who was already announced as the screenwriter for the first of the new pair, has also scripted the second, which gives James even more say over the story and development, since he’s her husband. So the complicated relationship between Grey and Steele will continue, at least until the world’s leather supply is severely depleted.