“Fifty Shades” Director Has Some Bluntly Honest Thoughts About Her Movie

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The first film of the “Fifty Shades of Grey” franchise was a massive blockbuster.

It returned box office earnings of $571 million off a relatively paltry budget of $40 million, which prompted Universal Pictures to greenlight two sequels.

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Chuck Zlotnick/Universal Pictures

The second film in the franchise, Fifty Shades Darker, was another financial success, but neither film was popular with critics; in fact, the first film won five Golden Raspberry Awards, a dubious distinction, and most of the positive critical reviews centered on the film’s soundtrack.

Sam Taylor-Johnson directed Fifty Shades of Grey, but she didn’t return for the second film of the franchise.

Instead, James Foley took over the role. Taylor-Johnson was apparently offered the second film, but she decided to turn it down, citing frequent disagreements with author E. L. James, who wrote the Fifty Shades books and retains considerable power over the film adaptations.

“Directing Fifty Shades Of Grey has been an intense and incredible journey for which I am hugely grateful,” she said at the time.

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IMDb

But shortly afterward, she was telling Porter magazine about the difficulties she’d encountered on set.

“We definitely fought – but they were creative fights and we would resolve them,” Taylor-Johnson said of her relationship with E. L. James. “We would have proper on-set barneys, and I’m not confrontational, but it was about finding a way between the two of us, satisfying her vision of what she’d written as well as my need to visualize this person on screen. But, you know, we got there.”

And recently, Taylor-Johnson spoke even more openly about the challenges of the film.

“I like everyone—and I get really confused when they don’t like me. I was so confused by E. L. James,” she told The Times of London. ” I don’t understand when I can’t navigate a person, when there’s no synergy.”

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Getty Images

As for the next Fifty Shades movies, Taylor-Johnson won’t be buying a ticket.

“I’m not going to ever watch them. I have literally zero interest,” she said.

Ouch. But does she regret directing the first film in the franchise?

“I can never say I regret it because that would just finish me off…With the benefit of hindsight would I go through it again? Of course I wouldn’t. I’d be mad.”

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Chuck Zlotnick/ Universal Pictures

“It was a struggle and there were lots of onset tête-à-têtes, with me trying to bat it into the [right] place.”

This isn’t the first time that Taylor-Johnson has revealed her true feelings about the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise.

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Ian Gavan/Getty Images

“As an artist, I think success doesn’t matter if you don’t feel connected to the work you’ve made,” she told Vogue. “It gave me a very dark head-space that I needed time to recover from. It took me a good year to really get back on my feet, and another year to feel confident to get back to work. It really knocked me sideways. I was in the grocery store car park one time and this guy came up to me and said, ‘Congratulations on Fifty Shades,’ and I said, ‘I did what I could. It was really difficult.’ [husband] Aaron was like, ‘Just say thanks!'”

Nonetheless, we hope the succesful franchise goes on as planned, and that Taylor-Johnson finds work she’s proud to direct. 

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