Despite having a powerful opening weekend in the box office, Fifty Shades of Grey received mixed reviews from both critics and fans of the book. Topping best-seller lists around the world, the 2011 erotic novel of the same name has taken readers by storm with its introduction to the taboo world of BDSM (bondage, dominance and submission and masochism). As the makers of the sequel, Fifty Shades Darker, prepare for production, the trilogy's leading lady, Dakota Johnson, spilled the beans to Empire about the film and its new director.
Johnson plays Anastasia Steele, a young college graduate who falls in love with Christian Grey, a successful business man with a troubled past and an obsession with BDSM. Their love story may not always be interpreted in the same way by every reader or viewer, but the strong connection they share with each other easily translates through any context and can't be denied. As Sam Taylor-Johnson, the initial director of the first film, opted to not return for the next film, fans are hoping the new director James Foley will can bring their love affair to life in the forthcoming adaptation.
"It's quite exciting," said Johnson to Empire about working on the new film. "There was a moment of being afraid, because I didn't know what it was going to be like. I had an experience with Sam [Taylor-Johnson] and then that all went away. Now I'm excited. I think James is a talented filmmaker. How often do you get to reconvene with the same people and have a different spin?"
The 25-year-old daughter of Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson has met the new director and is anxious to see how the film will come out. In the sequel, the relationship between Steele and Grey blossoms into something that readers never expected. Emotional walls are lowered and boundaries are crossed.
Fifty Shades Darker is scheduled to be released Feb. 10, 2017, while the third installment of the film trilogy is expected to hit theaters on Feb. 9, 2018.
