Fifty Shades Of Grey Director Quits Sequels

UPDATE: In the middle of February, the rumour first sprung up that director Sam Taylor-Johnson wouldn't be back for the Fifty Shades Of Grey follow-ups, off the back of reports of her and author E L James, er, 'not seeing eye to eye'. Well, the news has now been confirmed. Taylor-Johnson has released the following statement...

"Directing Fifty Shades Of Grey has been an intense and incredible journey for which I am hugely grateful. 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."

The hunt for a new director begins, then. We recommend Werner Herzog. 

Here's our original story from February...

With a quarter of a billion dollars banked already, Fifty Shades Of Grey has proven to be - like it or lump it - a huge box office success. The film's sizeable opening is the biggest ever for a film directed by a woman, and in the US, it's the second biggest February opening of all time, behind The Passion Of The Christ.

However, rumours of unrest behind the scenes have hardly been downplayed in recent weeks, with director Sam Taylor-Johnson and author E L James hardly sounding like they're best chums. So much so, in fact, that it's now being reported that Taylor-Johnson wants out of the two sequels, that Universal is understandably keen to press ahead with as soon as possible.

As part of the deal to bring the books to the screen, a sizeable amount of creative control has been given to E L James, and various reports suggest she's not afraid to use it. According to, er, The Sun, the relationship between author and director is "absolutely toxic", and "they despise each other and blame each other for the problems with the film".

The line these past few weeks seems to have been that Taylor-Johnson wanted a film that was more than a string of sex scenes, whilst James was looking for the film to be "loyal to the book".

Universal was, if we've got this right, looking to Sam Taylor-Johnson to direct the next two films - Fifty Shades: Darker and Fifty Shades: Freed - but it seems far more likely now that a new director is going to be required.

As is Den Of Geek tradition, by the way, when we talk about Fifty Shades we like to give a plug for something else. So:It Follows arrives in cinemas on Friday 27th February. It's a genuinely unnerving horror film, and this trailer does it no justice whatsoever. Our recommendation? Skip the promo, and book your tickets...

The Sun.