Fifty Shades Darker (film) would be "more of a thriller." In July 2015, it was confirmed that singer Rita Ora would reprise her role, Mia Grey, in the sequel. On August 20, 2015, it was revealed by "Deadline" that James Foley was the front-runner to direct the sequel and third film "Fifty Shades Freed", while the studio was also eyeing other directors, including Rebecca Thomas, Mark Pellington, and Tanya Wexler, and talks with Foley had not yet begun. On November 12, 2015, TheWrap confirmed that Foley would direct both sequels, which would be shot back-to-back in 2016, with Michael De Luca and Brunetti returning
Fifty Shades of Grey and repeatedly with asinine phrases", and described it as "depressing". The book garnered some accolades. In December 2012, it won both "Popular Fiction" and "Book of the Year" categories in the UK National Book Awards. In that same month, "Publishers Weekly" named E. L. James the 'Publishing Person of the Year', a decision whose criticism in the "LA Times" and the "New York Daily News" was referred to by and summarised in "The Christian Science Monitor". Earlier, in April 2012, when E. L. James was listed as one of "Time" magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World", Richard Lawson