Like it or loathe it, Fifty Shades of Grey is a BIG moneymaker, pulling in £13.5 million in the UK this weekend alone. But its director, Sam Taylor-Johnson, seems not so keen on it. Because although she’d previously saying ‘signed on’ to take the helm of the next two films in the trilogy, she’s now not doing them, if *The Sun’*s source is to be believed.
‘Sam won’t be back for the Fifity Shades sequels,’ said the source. ‘She wants out and Universal knows that’s the right decision.’
Why’s that? Well, the source says it’s because the writer of the film, EL James, real name Erika Mitchell, has creative control over the films, which makes the filming process tricky: ‘Her relationship with Erika has become absolutely toxic – they despise each other and blame each other for the problems with the film.
‘All the biggest arguments were about the sex scenes in the film. Erica wanted the movie to be loyal to the book and much more explicit.
‘But Sam pushed back because she wanted the movie to be more than just a collection of S&M scenes. That made life on set completely impossible for Sam.’
Sam has alluded to this in some interviews, telling The Hollywood Reporter: ‘We’d often clash and have to find a way to work through that to get to some sort of resolution. She would be the first to say as well that it was not easy. It was not easy. But we got there. I think both of us felt it was an incredibly painful process.’
Which sounds more painful than any of the BDSM the film contains. Back to *The Sun’*s source: ‘Directors usually have the ultimate control over what goes on in a movie, but in this case Erika was questioning literally the most minor things.
‘She was able to have the final say over the cast, the costumes and, crucially, the script. They’re both very powerful and assured women so there was clash after clash after clash.
‘The whole film has not been an enjoyable experience for most of the people involved. In particular, Sam found it just too much.’
We’re guessing the money she’ll be paid for the film’s success is too much, too, but perhaps the working situation was just so bad that she can’t be bothered to carry on with it?
Like this? You might also be interested in:
Jump On The BDSM Bandwagon And Throw Your Mates A Ridiculous Fifty Shades Party
Lose Your Lunchtime To Ellie Goulding’s Fifity Shades Of Grey Song
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.