Fifty Shades of Grey (film) James' husband, Niall Leonard, was enlisted to write the script for the film's sequel. In the same month, at the 2015 Universal CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Universal announced the release dates of the sequels, with "Fifty Shades Darker" being released on February 10, 2017, and "Fifty Shades Freed" was released on February 9, 2018. However, the sequels did not see Sam Taylor-Johnson returning as director. On August 20, 2015, the U.S. "House of Cards" director James Foley was a frontrunner to direct the sequel. In November 2015, Universal Studios announced that both films will be shot back-to-back. A spoof version
Fifty Shades Darker (film) the United Kingdom ($9.7 million), France ($8.7 million), Brazil ($7.5 million), Italy ($6.8 million), and Russia ($6.7 million). Much like its predecessor, "Fifty Shades Darker" received negative reviews from critics, who criticized its screenplay, narrative and Dornan's performance. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 10% based on 176 reviews, with an average rating of 3.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Lacking enough chemistry heat or narrative friction to satisfy, the limp "Fifty Shades Darker" wants to be kinky but only serves as its own form of punishment." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized