Universal's chairman hints at a different approach for the second entry 'Fifty Shades Darker' and defends the hiring of E.L. James' husband as a scribe.
- Apr 30, 2015
AceShowbiz - "Fifty Shades of Grey" sequel will be quite different from its predecessor if Universal stays true to their words. Speaking at the annual Power Lawyers breakfast hosted by The Hollywood Reporter, the studio's chairman Donna Langley says "Fifty Shades Darker" will be "more of a thriller."
The upcoming second installment will be written by Niall Leonard, the husband of "Fifty Shades" author E.L. James. Many see it as a "compromise" to appease James after she demanded more control over the movie and wanted to write it herself, but Langley defends their decision to hire Leonard. "He actually did a draft that wasn't credited on the first movie, and he did a really good job," she explained.
James famously clashed with director Sam Taylor-Johnson on many aspects of the first movie including the ending. The film ended up getting panned by critics despite its commercial success. "For the record, the movie we ended up making is exactly the movie I wanted to make and that the studio wanted to make and that our director wanted to make," Langley insisted.
The executive also discusses the studio's Monsters project which faces another postponement after "The Mummy" reboot was delayed nearly a year. The new movie was originally scheduled for June 24, 2016, but now has been moved to March 24, 2017.
"We're really looking to see if there's ways to create PG-13, more action than horror, like the early work of Steven Spielberg," Langley reasoned. "The world of superheroes is black and white, the world of monsters is not. Sometimes you need evil to fight evil."
Meanwhile, "Fifty Shades Darker" will be released on February 10, 2017 and the third one "Fifty Shades Freed" will follow on February 9, 2018. Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson are expected to reprise their roles as Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele respectively. Taylor-Johnson won't return as a director.
