Good news "Fifty Shades of Grey" fans! The sequels of the erotic drama are set to be released in 2017 and 2018.
Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele are definitely returning to the big screen after Universal Pictures announced Thursday that Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson will reprise their roles in the "Fifty Shades of Grey" sequels. According to Miami Herald, the announcement was made at CinemaCon.
Like the first "Fifty Shades" film, movie sequels "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades Freed" will heat up the movie screens around Valentine's Day. Speaking at the CinemaCon theater owners convention in Las Vegas, Universal Pictures studio chief Donna Langley announced the two films will be released on Feb. 10, 2017 and Feb. 9, 2018, respectively.
"We're making this a Valentine's Day event," Langley said, as Variety quoted.
The good news came a day after reports claimed that Niall Leonard, the husband of "Fifty Shades of Grey" author E.L. James, is writing the screenplay for the first sequel. However, Los Angeles Times learned that the sequels do not currently have directors since "Fifty Shades of Grey" director Sam Taylor-Johnson won't be returning to do the next movie installments.
Meanwhile, James' husband Niall Leonard is an author himself. He wrote the "Crusher" book series. As a screenwriter, he's written for the British TV shows "Air Force One Is Down" and "Wire in the Blood," among others. As People noted, he also worked on the script for the first "Fifty Shades" but was not credited.
"Niall is an outstanding writer in his own right, with multiple established credits, and we are lucky to have him join Team Fifty," producer Michael De Luca told The Hollywood Reporter.
Since screenwriter Kelly Marcel won't be returning as well, Leonard seemed to be a perfect fit for the "Fifty Shades" sequels. Both Marcel and Taylor-Johnson famously clashed with author James, who is serving as a producer on the "Fifty Shades" films and maintains a large amount of creative control over the adaptations.
And even though "Fifty Shades of Grey" was poorly reviewed and earned a weak C+ CinemaScore when it opened over Valentine's Day weekend, it went on to gross more than $568 million worldwide, on a modest $40-million budget.
At present, no release date or production start date has been set, but sources say that production on "Fifty Shades Darker" should begin within the first quarter of 2016. While, "Fifty Shades of Grey" lead stars, Dornan and Johnson, are currently negotiating for more money for the sequel.
