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 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