British director Sam Taylor-Johnson has officially announced her withdrawal from the Fifty Shades of Grey movie trilogy. She described the experience with the first movie as “an intense and incredible journey for which I am hugely grateful”, according to Deadline.com.
Therefore, the director of the $558.000.000 movie that took cinemas world-wide by storm will not be working on the following two pictures, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed. Taylor-Johnson reportedly faced quite a few disputes with the author of the trilogy, E.L. James. “We’d often clash and have to find a way to work through that to get some sort of resolution,” Sam Taylor-Johnson confessed to The Hollywood Reporter at the beginning of February this year.
It is said that the two didn’t see eye-to-eye on the script and that this was the main reason for the sparks in communication. Another reason why they argued was regarding the explicitness of various intimate scenes included in the film. However, both E.L. James and Sam Taylor-Johnson remained professional throughout their collaboration for the Fifty Shades of Grey movie.
Taylor-Johnson stated that she is very grateful for the experience and the team she had the chance to work with: “I have Universal to thank for that. I forged close and lasting relationships with the cast, producers and crew, and most especially with Dakota and Jamie. 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.”
Even though replacements for direction have not yet been publicly discussed, fans can rest assured that the two main actors portraying Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele (Jamie Dornan and, respectively, Dakota Johnson) will remain for the other two sequels of the series.
The book that the movie is based on is reported to have been translated into more than 50 different languages and has sold over 100,000,000 copies all around the world.
Currently, the first movie in the 50 Shades series enjoys a total lifetime gross of precisely $558.638.290, according to Box Office Mojo, with 29.4% percent domestic sales and an amazing 70.6% for foreign audiences. The opening weekend alone grossed over $85.000.000 in over 3,500 theaters worldwide, making it a #1 on various charts, such as “Widest R Rated Openings”, and breaking records in no less than 11 different countries.
Photo credits: CinemaBlend.com
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