E. L. James E. L. James Erika Leonard (née Mitchell; born 7 March 1963), known by her pen name E. L. James, is an English author. She wrote the bestselling erotic romance trilogy "Fifty Shades of Grey", "Fifty Shades Darker", and "Fifty Shades Freed", along with the companion novels "" and ""; and under the name Snowqueen's Icedragon the Twilight fan fiction "Master of the Universe" that was the basis for the Fifty Shades trilogy. The combined novels have sold over 125 million copies worldwide, over 35 million copies in the United States and set the record in the United Kingdom as the
Fifty Shades Freed (film) night previews, down 2% from the $5.7 million taken in "Fifty Shades Darker" the previous year. It ended up making $38.6 million over the weekend, the lowest of the trilogy, but enough to take first place at the box office. The film grossed $10.8 million on Valentine's Day, the third-highest total for when the holiday fell on a weekday, behind "The Vow" ($11.6 million in 2012) and "Darker" ($11 million), and bringing its five-day gross to $56.1 million. In its second weekend, the film made $17.3 million, dropping 55.1% (a slightly better hold than the previous film) and finishing third,