'Fifty Shades' sequels dated for future Valentine's Day releases
Image: Joel Ryan/Invision for Universal Pictures/AP Images/Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — Fifty Shades of Grey's debut on Valentine's Day worked out pretty well — why mess with success?
Fifty Shades Darker will open Feb. 10, 2017, and Fifty Shades Freed
will open Feb. 9, 2018, Universal Pictures announced Thursday at
CinemaCon, the annual convention of theater owners and Hollywood
studios.
The first Fifty Shades installment
grossed $166 million domestic and $568 million worldwide, a
surprisingly strong result for a relatively low-budget film. Though
based on a trilogy, there hadn't been concrete plans for sequels, and
the timeline for their development was thrown into question when
director Sam Taylor-Johnson and screenwriter Kelly Marcel both made
clear they wouldn't be returning.
But now that Fifty Shades Darker has a release date, it also has concrete deadlines. Though no director has been named, The Hollywood Reporter reported earlier this week that author EL James' husband Niall Leonard would handle screenwriting duties.
Gotta wonder what James' inner goddess thinks about that.
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