Fifty Shades Darker (film) by the same name, and released on February 13, 2015. The adaptation was produced by Focus, Michael De Luca Productions, and Trigger Street Productions. In March 2014, a producer of the first film, Dana Brunetti, had said there were, as of then, no solid plans to make a sequel. Before the first film opened, there was high anticipation from fans for the sequel. When the first film premiered at a special fan screening in New York City on February 6, director Sam Taylor-Johnson announced that the book sequels "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades Freed" would also be adapted, with
Fifty Shades Darker (film) the first to be released in 2016. Right after the announcement, the director told "Digital Spy" that "it's not my decision, and I haven't been privy to any of the discussions." On March 25, 2015, Taylor-Johnson officially left the franchise. On April 2, 2015, "Deadline" confirmed that De Luca had left Sony Pictures to return to Universal to produce the "Fifty Shades" sequels. On April 22, 2015, it was announced that E. L. James' husband, Niall Leonard, would write the script for the sequel. In April 2015, Universal Pictures chair Donna Langley told "The Hollywood Reporter" that the second installment