‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Director Not Returning for Sequel

We’ve heard the stories of issues on set between Fifty Shades of Grey director Sam Taylor-Johnson and author E.L. James, making it seem unlikely that Taylor-Johnson would return to direct the sequel. Universal has now made it official: Fifty Shades Darker is in the market for a new director, as Taylor-Johnson has declined to return.

Taylor-Johnson’s unsatisfactory experience working on Fifty Shades of Grey has been no secret, and the director herself was quite forthcoming in a great Vanity Fair profile covering the making of the film. So Variety’s report that Taylor-Johnson has decided not to return for Fifty Shades Darker isn’t exactly surprising, though it is disappointing. Screenwriter Kelly Marcel will also not return to script the sequel.

Fifty Shades of Grey may not have been a great film, but it was much better than it could have been thanks to Marcel, Taylor-Johnson and Dakota Johnson’s performance. Unless Universal can wrangle some impressive talent to replace the writer and director, I’m not sure Fifty Shades Darker can succeed based on Johnson’s performance alone.