'Fifty Shades Darker' and 'Fifty Shades Freed' will be both directed by the 'House of Cards' helmer next year.
- Nov 13, 2015
AceShowbiz - Universal Pictures is putting "Fifty Shades of Grey" sequels on fast lane. The movie adaptations of author E.L. James' "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades Freed" will be shot back-to-back next year with James Foley directing both installments, The Wrap reported.
Foley, who helmed many episodes of "House of Cards", had been the frontrunner to replace Sam Taylor-Wood. The female director backed out after a clash with James during the making of the first one.
Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson have already signed up to reprise their roles as Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele in the sequels. The scripts will be written by James' screenwriter husband Niall Leonard. Meanwhile, James will serve as producer alongside Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti who also worked in the first movie.
"Fifty Shades Darker" is scheduled to hit theaters February 10, 2017 while "Fifty Shades Freed" is set to be released February 9, 2018. The first pic was also released in the month of February since Universal wanted to cash in on the Valentine's Day holiday.
James recently released the fourth book in the series titled "Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian" which sold 1.1 million copies in four days. Universal owns the rights to the film adaptation but has not announced its development. Both Dornan and Johnson are not signed for the possible spin-off.
