Nifty shades of grey matter
Here are five revealing things you should know about the erotic drama Fifty Shades Darker:
1. The dangerous game
The film enters the stalker thriller sub-genre zone — although it’s no
Fatal Attraction — as billionaire Christian Grey is being haunted and hunted by a past licentious liaison in part two of the cinema trilogy.
2. Making her mark
The daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith gained experience in front of the camera with supporting roles in The Social Network, Beastly, 21 Jump Street and Need For Speed. And then Dakota Johnson’s career altering Anastasia Steele portrayal in the
Fifty Shades trilogy was followed by a lot of other movie offers. One of those opportunities, How
to Be Single, out last winter, was a light relationship comedy compared to the dark and twisted Fifty
Shades series of naughty desire. Getting accustomed to her higher profile — thanks to Fifty Shades — is a work in progress, according to the self-confessed introvert.
“I cherish my time alone and I like solitude,” Johnson says.
3. Fifty shades of Scarlet
Former model Jamie Dornan was once known as Keira Knightley’s boyfriend. But the Fifty Shades role of Christian Grey adjusted the reference.
Others might best remember him as the sheriff in ABC’s Once
Upon a Time or most recently as the serial killer in BBC’s The Fall. He has also signed to play Will Scarlet to Taron Egerton’s Robin Hood in the upcoming reinvention of the prince of thieves.
As it is, the actor from Belfast doesn’t have a preference in the medium.
“If it’s a compelling character and story I will do it on TV or film,” Dornan says.
“I think these days it’s important to do both and I feel privileged to do both.”
4. Images of continuity
Vancouver served as the base of operations for all three films, including Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed which shot over more than 100 days last year. That’s 42 for Darker and 44 for Freed, and amazingly 17 sequences from both movies shot on the same day.
5. Irresistible impulse to watch
Despite negative reviews, last year’s Fifty Shades of Grey pulled in $571 million US globally, which is a nifty take for a $40 million film. Fifty Shades Darker is tracking at half that with a less than $45 million expected for the opening weekend compared to the first feature at $85 million.
The second movie’s performance aside, Fifty Shades Freed is set for release next February just before the coveted Valentine’s Day stretch — again.
Pundits predict more than a billion for the Fifty Shades threesome after all is said and ogled over.