When the news broke earlier this week that E.L. James would be publishing a new version of Fifty Shades of Grey from Christian Grey's point of view, everybody freaked out a little. Or a lot. Even though the book won't even be out until next month, we have suddenly been inundated with speculation about whether this new addition to the series — which also comprises the sequels Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed — would be heading to theaters. We don't have an official answer on that yet, even though all signs point to yes, but The Hollywood Reporter writes that even if this spinoff makes it to the box office, Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson haven't signed on for a spinoff... yet.
Whether because they didn't find the female lead, Anastasia Steele, as attractive as her beau, or because they just want more of this particular brand of soft-core BDSM any way they can get it, people are going wild for Christian Grey to get his own novel. Dornan and Johnson played Grey and Steele, respectively, in the first film, and both have signed on for the aforementioned sequels, out in Feb. 2017 and 2018, with considerable salary bumps. However, there's allegedly nothing in their contracts with Universal Studios that requires them to stick around for a fourth (or fifth or sixth or tenth) film, as they never signed anything regarding as-yet-unwritten books in the series.
So to summarize: THR reports that neither of them is locked down for a movie that hasn't even been confirmed yet for a book that hasn't even been published yet. Which could be a benefit and it could be a detractor. These movies are exactly the kind of wildly popular vehicles that will boost Johnson and Dornan to fame, so, by the time they've done three of them, they could be inundated with offers from other studios. Or, they could wrap the third and be absolutely delighted to rake in some more money for a fourth.
It could go either way, but, my point is, there's still plenty of time for them to decide, and also plenty more smut for you to devour in the meantime. So kick up your feet in your Red Room of Pain and relax, why don't you?
Images: Chuck Zlotnick/Universal Pictures; Giphy
