Caffeinated Clint
As most of us suspected, Sam Taylor-Johnson is exiting the “Fifty Shades” franchise.
After a pretty miserable time on “Fifty Shades of Grey” (and one can imagine, what with E.J James criticizing every creative she made on the thing), the Brit filmmaker has opted not to helm the remaining two films in the trilogy.
On her departure, Taylor-Johnson tells Deadline :
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.
With E.J James insisting she herself write the script for “Fifty Shades Darker” (the next one), Taylor-Johnson’s decision probably wasn’t a hard one to make.
