After a number of issues surfacing week after week, 'Fifty Shades Darker' finally signs director James Foley as its director, as Dakota Johnson confirms. Co-lead Jamie Dornan will not have a frontal nudity in the sequel.
During the premiere of her two films Venice Film Festival, Johnson talked to Empire Online about the sequel to the box office hit, Fifty Shades of Grey. She confirmed meeting with House of Cards director, James Foley for the film. When asked about her thoughts on the production, she describes it as "quite exciting," laced with "a moment of being afraid."
The 25 year old actress, who plays Anastasia Steele, explains that she felt that way because she had no idea how it is going to be. While very happy with her experience with Sam Taylor Johnson, Johnson also finds it exciting "to reconvene with the same people" and produce a "different spin" with the sequels, now at the hands of Foley. "I think James is a talented filmmaker", adds Johnson.
Several production issues have plagued the 'Fifty Shades Darker' movie, according to Movie Pilot. One of them is when Sam Taylor-Johnson announced that she would not be returning as director for the sequels. Intense fights between author E.L. James and Taylor-Johnson on cinematic adaptation was the widespread rumour on the director's quitting.
The British author reportedly exercised her "unprecedented measure of creative control" to argue with the director and executives" over the "tiniest changes" in the cinematic adaptation. While she has mentioned creative differences before, Taylor-Johnson has not denied nor confirmed her reason leaving the hugely successful franchise.
On the other hand, leading man Jamie Dornan is not going to do a full frontal on 'Fifty Shades Darker', as reported by Movie News Guide. Even if darker and sexier is the theme for the second installment "with longer and more intimate sex scenes", Dornan will not show his front parts to the camera.
The 33 year old Irish actor is busy filming two more movies, Anthropoid and Jadotville, and has another film, 9th Life of Louis Drax, in post production. Dornan has recently returned to London to spend time with his family, amidst rumors of a rocky marriage possibly because of the steamy film.
Meanwhile, both Johnson and Dornan are reportedly having a paycheck raise, given the success of the first film. While there are also rumors of budget constraints, there hasn't been a confirmation of this or the stars' salary deals. However, production is already scheduled to start February 2016, in Vancouver, Canada.
'Fifty Shades Darker' and 'Fifty Shades Freed', adapted by Niall Leonard (E.L. James' husband) will reportedly be filmed simultaneously by its newly signed director. Lead stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan will reprise their roles as Ana and Christian, with steamier and sexier scene albeit no full frontal for Dornan. The second movie is slated for a February 10, 2017 release, and the third for a February 9, 2018 premiere.
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