The “Fifty Shades” series will have to handcuff a new director.
Sam Taylor-Johnson, who directed “Fifty Shades of Grey,” told Deadline.com that she won’t be back for the sequel, “Fifty Shades Darker.”
“Directing ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ has been an intense and incredible journey for which I am hugely grateful,” she said in a statement to the site. “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.”
The first film in the best-selling book series has been hugely successful, pulling in more than $550 million worldwide since it premiered in mid-February, but there have been rumbles that creative clashes were in the offing for the sequel.
Author E L James has a great deal of control in how her books are presented on screen, and she made it clear that she wanted to write the screenplay for the second film, Variety reported last month.
Kelly Marcel wrote the screenplay for “Fifty Shades of Grey.”
The film stars Jamie Dornan as billionaire Christian Grey — a man of certain sexual proclivities — and Dakota Johnson as his romantic partner, Anastasia Steele.