Fifty Shades sequel release dates confirmed

We finally have confirmed release dates for the next two installments of the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise. As it currently stands, to keep with the Valentine's Day tradition, we won't be getting Fifty Shades Darker until February 10, 2017 while the third installment (presumably titled Fifty Shades Freed) will hit theaters on February 9, 2018.

Universal seems to be taking a huge gamble with these release dates. I say that because you would assume these films would be fast-tracked to keep the attention of the public. Having the sequel two years from the first one is a bit crazy. I assumed they'd at least try and film by the end of this year for 2016 and 2017 releases.
This comes a day after Universal announced that Fifty Shades author EL James' husband, Niall Leonard, has been hired to pen the screenplay for Fifty Shades Darker. This compromise came after James caused the departure of director Sam Taylor-Johnson and writer Kelly Marcel. Now that it has become blatantly obvious that EL James has taken full control of this franchise there is no telling what is going to happen. For all we know the director for Fifty Shades Darker will be James.

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed Fifty Shades of Grey but I credit that to Sam Taylor-Johnson. The direction was solid and the cinematography was amazing. With her departure I think it's pretty safe to say that the cinematographer, Seamus McGarvey, won't be returning either. We now have a new writer and will have a new director and most likely a new cinematographer. We still have multiple characters that need to be cast (the big one being "Mrs. Robinson") and the remaining actors from the first film are demanding ridiculously high salaries.

This franchise quickly is turning into even more of a joke than it originally was.

 

Fifty Shades of Unrated hits Blu-Ray this May

Universal announced today that the long rumored "unrated" cut of Fifty Shades of Grey will indeed hit Blu-Ray this spring. The unrated version of the film contains an additional three minutes of footage and also has an alternate ending. It will be released on Blu-Ray on May 8th.

You also might want to notice that I just said Blu-Ray. This unrated cut of the film will only be released on the Blu-Ray format, so if you've managed to come this far without upgrading to Blu-Ray you're pretty out of luck with this one. However, the disc will also contain the theatrical version and over two hours of bonus features so it's not a total ripoff. The digital release and the DVD will both have the theatrical cut included.

Other bonus features exclusive to the Blu-Ray are:

• The World of Fifty Shades of Grey featurette - Focuses on the artistry in creating the Fifty Shades world along with profiles of Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan.
• Christian Grey featurette - Explore the world of Christian Grey
• Christian Grey profile - Discover who Christian Grey is
• Jamie Dornan profile - Meet the actor behind Christian
• Christian's Apartment featurette - Take a tour of Christian's infamous Escala apartment
• Christian's Wardrobe featurette
• A Rich Man's Toys - Revisit Christian's cars, helicopter, private jet, and even more toys any fan from the book recognizes
• Ana featurette - Explore Anastasia Steele and what makes her so relatable
• All About Ana featurette
• Dakota Johnson profile - Meet the actress behind Anastasia
• Ana's World featurette - Explore Ana's life prior to meeting Christian and see how it changes when she enters Christian's lifestyle
• Ana's Wardrobe featurette
• EL James & Fifty Shades - Come face to face with the woman who created the Fifty Shades phenomenon
• The Pleasure of Pain featurette - Meet with the film's BDSM consultant and explore the props included within the "red room"
• Interactive on-set tours
• Music videos from Skylar Grey, Ellie Goulding, and The Weeknd 
• "Earned It" behind the scenes featurette - Explore the making of the video for The Weeknd's, "Earned It"

Bonus features the DVD release will share with the Blu-Ray are few, but they are:

• The World of Fifty Shades of Grey - Friends & Family featurette - Meet the actors behind the main character's friends and family
• Behind the Shades featurette - Director Sam Taylor-Johnson joins producers EL James, Dana Brunetti, and Mike De Luca along with the cast to discuss the most challenging aspects of making the film.

I guess instead of moving forward on production of the sequels they decided to go all out for the Blu-Ray release. For those upset about not having a Blu-Ray player or whatever, a majority of these featurettes have been up on YouTube since the theatrical release of the film. You're welcome.

Fifty Shades stars demand higher salaries for sequels

Fifty Shades of Grey has managed to bring in over $500 million internationally since the Valentine's Day release and apparently the actors want to bring in some of the profits. The film's lead actors, Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson, are reportedly demanding higher paychecks for the still unannounced sequels.

Dornan and Johnson were each paid $250,000 for Fifty Shades of Grey and were given a 3-film contract along with it. They are entitled to box office bonuses that they are no doubt rolling those right now, but the bottom line is Universal negotiated such low salaries to keep the film's budget low. Why? No one knew if this film was going to be successful. The international box office shows that viewers were curious enough to see it, but the 73% drop in the second week shows that people weren't into seeing it more than once.
It seems that the actors are trying to negotiate for deals similar to what actors in the Twilight and Hunger Games franchises have gotten. An example being how Jennifer Lawrence's salary from The Hunger Games to Catching Fire went from $500,000 to $10 million. Kristen Stewart had a similar jump as she went from making just $2 million for Twilight to over $12 million for the final Breaking Dawn film. She also became the highest paid star in Hollywood back in 2012 and currently has a net worth of $70 million. As it currently stands, Dornan's net worth is sitting around $3 million while Johnson is at $1 million.

You can't blame the actors for wanting a bigger slice of the pie, especially considering the amount of money this movie raked in. However, there are a lot of people out there that think Universal might seek a less expensive option for the sequel which would be replacing the actors. Personally, I don't think they'd replace the actors given the familiarity they have with this story and the fact that Dakota Johnson was fantastic but you never know. Weirder things have happened in Hollywood.
There currently is no start date for the Fifty Shades sequels and Universal has yet to officially announce them, but insiders are claiming that Universal is aiming for releases in 2016 and 2017.

Rumor: Lily Allen in talks for Fifty Shades sequels

More rumors surrounding the yet to be officially announced Fifty Shades sequels. The newest rumor to join the pack is that British musician, Lily Allen, is in talks to join the sequel(s) because she was seen with Fifty Shades of Grey director, Sam Taylor-Johnson, at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood for over an hour.

Now... there is no telling if this is even true, but if it is my guess would be that Allen will be a part of the soundtrack and not the film. Allen has only four film credits to her name and two of them are short films. Seeing how successful the soundtrack to the first film has become and how Universal has stated that creating a strong soundtrack relevant to the film was a priority I don't think they will let another installment be released without another great soundtrack.
However, on the odd chance that Allen is being sought after to act in the film it might be possible that she's on the radar to portray Christian's ex-submissive, Leila Williams. If that isn't it I would guess she will be part of the office staff at SIP where, no doubt, Anastasia will be hired at in the sequel.

Rumor: Jamie Dornan to quit Fifty Shades trilogy

Rumor alert!

There are several online sources that are releasing articles stating that Fifty Shades of Grey lead actor, Jamie Dornan, is going to quit the franchise. In the reports they are citing that the discomfort his wife has felt over the sex scenes and his friendship/appearances with co-star Dakota Johnson has led him to the decision to leave the franchise after just one film. This comes in the midst of heavy rumors that director Sam Taylor-Johnson won't return to direct the second or third film, should they ever be officially announced.
These rumors started out of Australia after the magazine NW published an article stating that Dornan's wife, Amelia Warner, is mainly to blame for him choosing to leave the franchise. The insiders are claiming that Dornan took the role because he felt it would skyrocket his career and that he assured his wife that the inevitable attention from millions of other women wouldn't change their marriage. Another kicker included in the rumor is that instead of blaming his wife for her cold feet, he is blaming Dakota Johnson for their lack of chemistry stating that she gave him nothing to work with. Personally, I find that hard to believe seeing that she was the best part of the entire movie.

Anyway, the rumors are all over the internet now; Yahoo, Vulture, Daily Mail, IMDB boards, etc.. Universal has still not announced that sequels are official due to the rumored feud they are having with Fifty Shades author, EL James, over her demands for complete creative control including writing the screenplay for Fifty Shades Darker herself. Director Sam Taylor-Johnson still is up in the air and she went from saying she was on board for the sequels to not saying a damn thing. The first rumors about people jumping ship were about her due to her issues with EL James during production of the first movie. I still think sequels are inevitable given the success the film has had at the box office, but movies can't move forward without the pieces that put them together. If you have no screenwriter, no director, and a recognizable lead actor missing you have no movie. It's not looking good at all. At this point the only member of the cast seemingly excited about the potential future of this franchise is Dakota Johnson.
I've already said it, but if the sequels do happen I bet we won't see them for 2-3 years. Given the issues before Fifty Shades Darker has even gone into production it would be in their best interest to film the sequels back to back and just put space in between the releases. In other words, pull a Mockingjay and Breaking Dawn and just get it all over with at once so you don't have to worry about this crazy crap. Bottom line is they can't re-cast Christian Grey. Jamie Dornan brought him to life, the fans loved him, he's all over the place, and bringing in another actor would just be dumb. This isn't like replacing Evan Peters in Kick-Ass 2 or booting Terrence Howard from Iron Man. They were part of the franchise, but they weren't the face of it. If Dornan really does walk the sequels are dead. Period.

Fifty Shades of Grey reaches $400 million worldwide

Despite a crazy 73% drop at the domestic box office in the first week, Fifty Shades of Grey has managed to stay on top (oh that pun) and bring in over $400 million at the worldwide box office. Domestically it brought in $130.1 million in 10-days while it brought in $280.5 internationally.
The US decline is assumed to be due to the film's holiday release (Valentine's and President's day weekend), but it has proven to be more of a driving force overseas as the decline on the other side of the world was only 57%.

However, it still managed to dominate (the puns keep rolling) the US box office as it still outperformed Kingsman: The Secret Service and new releases Hot Tub Time Machine 2, The DUFF, and McFarland, USA. People are trying to excuse the low performance of these films due to how films usually underperform on Oscar weekends and with the massive winter weather throughout the country, but let's be real... people are still interested in Fifty Shades of Grey. People who didn't go over the busy weekend waited a week and saw it over the lousy films it competed against for a second week in a row. It also is still playing in the most theaters by still taking up space on 3,655 screens.

Get used to it, guys.

EL James wants full control of Fifty Shades sequels

I personally, and surprisingly, enjoyed Fifty Shades of Grey but I credit a big part of that to one thing: EL James didn't have complete control.

Apparently the British author is trying to up the ante with the studios and is now demanding complete creative control over the sort of confirmed Fifty Shades sequels. James' level of involvement with Fifty Shades of Grey became rather well-known as insiders blabbed to the tabloids about on-set fights between her and director Sam Taylor-Johnson. The rift and overbearing control over the source material even caused issues with the actors at one point.
Confirmation of the sequels was originally thought to be official, but since the release we haven't gotten any confirmation from Universal and the actors have made it clear via talk shows and magazine articles that sequels aren't official just yet, but they would love to return as the characters for more films. Insiders are assuming that two people won't be back, especially if full control is given to James, and that is Sam Taylor-Johnson and screenwriter Kelly Marcel. Marcel and James evidently had a falling out while writing the original draft of the screenplay that spawned a rewrite because the original draft James assisted with was horrible. This is no surprise seeing how horribly written the books were.

Now... unless this is all in the contract that was written when Universal purchased the film rights, there is no reason why EL James has to be involved at all. This has to be somewhat true because Universal is reluctant to give her full control for a couple reasons:

1. She is unfamiliar with Hollywood and how film adaptations of books work.  (obviously)
2. She has never written a screenplay by herself. 
3. She only has three writing credits to her name (aka, the Fifty Shades trilogy) and they are all within the last four years. Not to mention the trilogy spawned from poorly written Twilight fan-fiction she posted online.

Insiders are claiming that the reason the sequels haven't been officially announced by Universal is because they are fighting with EL James and it's holding up production. That is why the actors are having to beat around the bush when people ask them about sequels and that is most likely why Sam Taylor-Johnson went from saying on The Today Show she had signed onto the sequels to not saying anything at all. Come the day that things get squared away, if and when, production likely won't start until 2016 which would delay the sequels by at least a year. This is not smart because despite what it may seem like now, the fandom and mania will die down and people will lose interest. With franchises like these it is in the best interest to release a film every year. I assumed Fifty Shades Darker would hit in 2016 and Fifty Shades Freed would in 2017, but if they can't get past EL James and her demands that isn't going to happen.
This also puts the actors in a bind which is something I don't think they realize. Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan are on everyone's radar and there is no doubt that they are being sought after for roles, especially now that the international box office for Fifty Shades is over $300 million. Until they know when production of Fifty Shades Darker will start they can't really commit to other projects. If they do and a sequel is officially announced they might have some scheduling conflicts which would put them in a situation where Fifty Shades would take priority since they are contractually obligated to appear. That's not fair at all and this makes it even more obvious that EL James doesn't give a shit about the other people involved in this franchise.

The complaints most people have so far about Fifty Shades of Grey was regarding the script and the so-called "bore factor" that the film brought, but knowing how difficult production was with James' involvement you can't really blame them. Universal gave this woman way too much power and now she wants more. If Taylor-Johnson does really walk and won't direct the sequels they are going to have some major problems. Her vision for the film was actually quite beautiful and I don't think the sequels will have the same vision or elements if she is not involved. Not to mention they are going to have a hell of a time finding a director who is willing to work with EL James and take her shit with a grain of salt.

Smh.

Fifty Shades of Grey - Review

Fifty Shades of Grey follows a young college student named Anastasia Steele as she enters an unknown world of sexual and emotional discovery after a chance meeting with Christian Grey, a 27-year old billionaire with a secret life as a BDSM dominant.



This will have spoilers, so if you haven't seen the movie or read the books you might want to skip over this. 

I'm the first one to say that I really didn't like the Fifty Shades books. I read all three of them and although the second one was enjoyable enough and the third was the best, the first book was by far the worst. I could go on and on about how Christian is emotionally and sexually abusive but that isn't really relevant to the movie because... well, the movie downplayed a lot of things that the groups protesting the movie are pushing; BDSM being the biggest.
With that said, I did actually enjoy the movie. I thought that they changed and omitted enough from the book to really amplify the plot and the characters enough to make it an enjoyable movie. Whether you wanted it or not they did go for the mushy love story, but it actually worked in this case. They didn't completely omit the troubled past of Christian Grey and they let it play into why he was how he was, but it wasn't overdone. There was a lot that wasn't overdone and in this case that was the best thing that could have happened because of how poorly written the books were.
Sam Taylor-Johnson had a strong attempt and after seeing how this film was handled, I would hope that Universal finds a way to keep her around for sequels. I think losing the element and handling she brought to the film would really hurt the sequels. Aside from that the cinematography was gorgeous. I figured if it turned out to be horrible at least it was beautiful to look at. 

One of the biggest complaints from the fanbase, and from a lot of reviewers so far, was the apparent lack of chemistry between the film's lead actors, Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan. For me personally, I didn't find them to have a lack of chemistry that was distracting. It's apparent in some scenes that it must have been close to the beginning of filming because they seemed a bit uncomfortable and awkward, but as the film went on there was really a sense of chemistry between the actors.
Dakota Johnson, however, was the best part of the film. She truly shined and had the best performance of the whole cast. For this being her first lead role in a feature film she really nailed it. I found her performance to be fun, lively, and she really gave Anastasia a sense of self respect that she lacked in the book. One thing I said prior to seeing the film was that if Anastasia was the way that she was in the book it was going to be a struggle. She was the worst part of the book because she is basically a doormat. She lets Christian do whatever he wants to her because she doesn't want to risk him telling her to get lost. She doesn't come across as overly naive, like in the book, and and she stands up to him. Firm limits regarding the contract and what she will and will not do are set and Christian respects them all, unlike in the book where he felt she just needed to try things first. The scene where they discuss the contract really showcases the changes that were given to Anastasia because she seems to enjoy teasing Christian and then leaving him hanging. Kudos to them for taking a wood block of a character and giving her life. I really loved every aspect of Johnson's performance which is a surprise for me to say.
As far as Dornan goes as Christian, I don't think he was the best choice but he wasn't the worst. He did the best that he could given the amount of time that he had to prepare. The most glaring thing for me personally was how terrible his American accent was. There were times where I cringed hearing him say certain words and his pronunciation of certain words was very strange. As an American I could easily tell that he was struggling through most of the dialogue. Aside from that, I don't think he did a terrible job. It could have been worse.  As far as how they portrayed Christian, I think they made necessary changes. In the book he is a flat out stalker and is very emotionally, and often sexually, abusive to Anastasia. In the movie he just comes across as a little forward and seems to really be trying to impress her and win her over. He isn't just a giant asshole to her like he is in the book and I think that was a necessary thing to change. The only disappointment is he needed more development regarding his past. You get that he had a rough childhood and he does disclose to Anastasia why he is the way he is, but it's more of a precursor rather than an explanation. For people who didn't read the books there is a huge hole there that needed to be patched up with some more explanation. Hopefully they touch on that with the sequels.

Before getting to the most-anticipated aspect of this movie, let's cover the writing. It's no secret that the Fifty Shades trilogy has horrendous writing. Anastasia's "inner goddess" monologue and the dialogue between the characters is just terrible. However, I think the movie captured the dialogue in a way that wasn't overly annoying. They kept certain things from the book that were cheesy and lame (such as "laters, baby" and "fifty shades of fucked up") but it wasn't distracting and the lines didn't take away from what was going on. I felt that the characters said enough but not too much like they do in the books and that was a good thing. If they would have done a line for line adaptation it would have just been the worst. It's one thing to read horrible dialogue... it's another to actually hear it said out loud.


Now... the sex scenes.

It was assumed that these would be the driving force of the film as it is based off an erotic trilogy. However, I found myself a bit disappointed with the sex scenes, especially the BDSM scenes in the "red room." For a story so centralized on the lifestyle that Christian practices the movie didn't seem to explore it a whole lot. I thought that Anastasia's introduction into the room was well done and she really played off the whole, "what in the hell and I doing here" vibe that she gets in the book. But, out of all the sex scenes there were only two in the room and they were quite tame compared to what I expected them to be. It didn't really give that element of danger and fear that Ana had in the book.
On the other hand, the "vanilla" scenes were very well done. I thought the virginity scene was believable, for what it could be, and the ice cube scene was probably the best one of the whole movie. They just gave that sense of vulnerability and realism that most films don't capture when it comes to sex. It wasn't the typical, oh this is awesome let me just jackhammer away at this girl. It's hard to describe the essence that was captured but it was very well done. I appreciated those scenes a lot more than the BDSM aspects of the story.
Another thing I appreciated about it is they stayed away from Anastasia's ridiculous orgasms. In the book she pretty much has an orgasm whenever Christian comes near her at all. The movie was very lacking in the "big O" department in comparison to the source material, but you could tell that she was enjoying herself and discovering her own body and that you can definitely credit Dakota Johnson with. The way she handled her character's reactions and how you could see what she wanted without dialogue was impressive. None of it seemed forced or overly exaggerated.

With all that said, I think the main thing that I walked away with regarding the sex was the amount of nudity in the movie. Nudity doesn't really shock me and I don't get embarrassed by it, but there was a lot of nudity. Dakota Johnson goes full frontal a good four times or more and you easily see her body the most. I could probably draw a picture of her body without needing a reference photo and from what I have read she didn't use a body double, so good for her. The only thing that I noticed, and appreciated to a degree, was how she retained some body hair. I think it gave more believability to the character and was pretty accurate to most women who leave a certain amount of pubic hair and don't shave above the knee. The little details like that are what made it so enjoyable.
You also get a decent amount of nudity from Jamie Dornan, but it isn't full frontal like it is with Johnson. You do see a quick flash of his penis but it's probably a half of a second and is when he unbuttons his jeans. Every other time it's just back nudity (aka, butt nudity) and bare chest. They really had a great director of photography and cinematographer because the shots were really sculpted around Dornan's body to avoid frontal nudity.

The most improved change, for me, was the ending. I'll mention it below as well but the minor changes they made to the final scene was enjoyable. In the book it is more of a conflict for Anastasia to leave and it is several pages of inner monologue from her explaining how painful it was for her to leave. The movie shows her actually wanting to leave and while you see her upset, she seems to understand that it's for her own good. There is no argument over the money for her car and there is no argument about her returning the Macbook he gave her. He seems to understand why she is leaving and doesn't seem as conflicted about it either. It isn't until she's in the elevator that he tries to go after her and she quite forcefully says no.
The biggest change regarding the finale is when Christian goes into her room after the punishment she does not allow him to touch her and she kicks him out of the room.  The book version of Ana is allowing him to come close to her, cuddle her, and she still wants physical contact from him even after he punishes her. The movie version of Ana has her on one side of the bed with Christian on the other. She never looks at him when she is talking to him, she does not want him to touch her, and she kicks him out of the room after he tells her that she can't love him. She also leaves the next morning and not the same night. We don't see her return to her apartment to cry it out as the movie ends as their meeting started with them saying farewell through closing elevator doors.


Most questions I have seen online are regarding what is included in the book and what is left out. There was more left out than included from what I could tell and at times it did make the movie feel a little rushed, but I don't think it was a bad thing. Like I said before, if they would have gone for a line for line adaptation it would have run long and gotten too corny.

What was omitted (for those who read the book):

• Anastasia does not get a job: In the book, Ana interviews for jobs and is hired right out of college as an assistant to the editor at a publishing firm in Seattle, but the movie has no mention of her even applying for jobs. I would assume this is something that will be saved for the second film.
  
• Mrs. Jones is non-existent: As you might know, Christian's housekeeper was quite prevalent in the books and she did come into some significance in Fifty Shades Freed. However, she is not included or even mentioned in the movie. 
• Taylor is not as prevalent: Taylor seemed to always be around in the books, but in the movie he is more of a backdrop and isn't that noticeable. 
• Christian's overwhelming jealousy with other men in Anastasia's life: The book shows Christian was constantly overprotective of Ana and jealous of the other men in her life such as Jose Rodriguez, Ethan Kavanagh, and Paul Clayton. The movie doesn't depict this beyond Christian showing up at the bar and pushing Jose away from Ana when he tries to make a pass at her.
• Ethan Kavanagh is non-existent: Speaking of jealousy and non-existent characters, Kate's brother Ethan does not make an appearance in the film and is not mentioned. He is another character that becomes somewhat important to the plot, so I assume he will appear in the second film. 
• Dr. Greene is non-existent: Beyond a quick mention by Christian asking how the GYN appointment went, we did not see or hear any more about Dr. Greene. She is in the book and is in the later books as well, so this might be another casting announcement they are saving until the sequels. 
• The WSU graduation was very quick: Ana's graduation is very big in the books and it gave Christian a big introduction to Ray, Ana's father. All we got to see on screen was a small bit of Christian's speech, Ana talking to him while getting her diploma, Ray and Christian shaking hands, the photo taken for the newspaper, and that's about it. 
• Anastasia's trip to Georgia was very quick: There were several chapters dedicated to Ana's trip to visit her mother and had events such as her being silently upgraded to first class, her being more involved with her mother and stepfather, Christian dropping in on her, more sex, arguing with Christian about paying at an IHOP, and the air glider. The movie basically depicts Ana having lunch with her family, being dropped in on by Christian at the hotel, and being taken flying in the glider. That's it. 
• Christian's issues with Anastasia's eating habits were minimal: Christian basically shoves food down Ana's throat throughout the book and consistently tells her she needs to eat. She also describes that she is so intimidated by Christian that she finds it difficult to eat around him. In the movie, he presents her food and the underlying tone of eating being important to him is there, but it's not overbearing. She doesn't seem to have an appetite problem at all in the movie.
• There is less sex: The book has a total of 48 sex scenes. The movie has seven.
• More controversial sex scenes were omitted entirely: Scenes involving fellatio, tampon removal, cunnilingus, and sex by intimidation and threats that were prevalent in the book were not present in the film at all. Don't let the internet fool you because they simply aren't in the film. 
• The ending is a bit different: As I said already, the end of the book and the movie are essentially the same but have minor differences. The book has more of a conflicting struggle between the two characters and Ana really doesn't want to leave. She gives Christian back the gifts he got her much to his disapproval and they argue over the money for her Volkswagen. The movie, however, had Ana really wanting to leave. She was repulsed by Christian and hurt at the same time. He seemed to immediately realize what he had done by going after her and she responds by a very forceful, "Stop. No!" as she gets in the elevator to leave. 
• The technology is upgraded: The book introduced us to Ana as if she was attending college in the early 1990's. She didn't have a personal computer and seemed to be completely lost when it came to technology. The book also utilized Apple and Blackberry products. The version of Ana we get in the movie has an older but decent flip-phone and a computer, but the computer is broken. Christian still gifts her the Macbook, but he does not give her a cell phone. His Blackberry also was updated to an iPhone. 
• The beginning is very to the point: We get to Christian and Ana's first night in his apartment after 40min or so in the film, but it is several chapters into the book before we get to that scene. The book has a lot more conversations between the two characters and the post-interview events at the Heathman were also more in detail. The film takes us from 0-60mph quite fast because it is very quick from the initial interview at Grey House to the first night in the apartment. Conversations between Ana and Jose are not included as well as conversations between Ana and Kate. We don't see Christian ask Ana for coffee but we hear about it and the coffee scene is over and done with very quickly. 
• Kate is not as protective of Anastasia: Kate is a lot more involved in the book than in the movie. She gets rather threatening towards Christian and when he upsets Ana she nearly kicks him out of their apartment in an attempt to keep him away from her friend. The movie depicts Kate as almost non-existent. She is there, but she isn't very involved. Ana kind of brushes off her roommate and in situations where Kate was present in the book she isn't in the movie, such as the night Christian shows up at their apartment.
• Anastasia is a pretty feisty, funny girl: Ana was practically a talking piece of cardboard in the book. Let's be honest about that. The movie portrayed her in a very different light and it was a very necessary change. She has an obvious and likeable sense of humor and actually has self respect. She isn't overly aggressive towards Christian, but she knows what she wants and isn't shy about trying to talk about it. That is not something we had in the book at all. 
• Christian's abundance of wealth: The exact depth of Christian's wealth isn't explored in any detail like it is in the book. We get the general idea given the fact that he has a garage full of cars and a helicopter, but that's really all we get. Ana also didn't seem as uncomfortable by his wealth as she was in the book. 

There is more that I could go on about, but those were the biggest things that I noticed. Overall I did enjoy the movie a lot more than the book. I think if this is a pace they are setting for the future movies that will no doubt happen they are off to a great start. I expected it to be horrible and was pleasantly surprised. 
I wouldn't recommend seeing this with anyone you would be uncomfortable seeing this subject matter with, such as parents. I saw it with a friend and we found things to laugh at and were comfortable with it. Just a heads up there. If you get weird seeing boobs in a movie you watch with your mom don't take her to go see this movie.

#fiftyshades #fiftyshadesofgrey

Which Fifty Shades scene was ultimately cut?

It's not an understatement to say that all of Fifty Shades of Grey was controversial, but among all of the scenes in the book there is one that director Sam Taylor-Johnson chose to omit from the film adaptation. No, it's not Ana's first encounter with Christian at the hardware store or their first night in Christian's "Red Room of Pain." The scene that we will not see is pretty small, but it did even gross out some readers.

Taylor-Johnson stated that the bit where Christian removes Ana's tampon so they could have sex was omitted from the film. According to her the situation wasn't even discussed among the writers and the actors. It was just left out entirely. She also did hint that the sexual situations, although still a part of the film, were ultimately toned down. Early drafts of the script were rewritten because the team wanted to maintain a balance between the story and connection of the characters and their sexuality so the sexual overtones weren't overpowering the entire film.

In other words, they had to do something to maintain an R-rating. Sorry guys.

Fifty Shades of Grey breaks Fandango records

It seems that a surprisingly large amount of people want to see Fifty Shades of Grey in public. The erotic film, which still is a month away, has become the highest selling R-rated film in Fandango history. It has also somehow become the 4th most anticipated film of 2015 according to Fandango users.
Fifty Shades of Grey has beaten the previous record holder, Sex and the City 2, and has also beaten The Hangover II and The Hangover III. Fandango Chief Correspondent Dave Karger has said it's on track to be the fastest selling R-rated film of all time.


The film, based on E.L. James' novel, follows a young college student named Anastasia Steele who enters a world of sexual discovery and exploration at the hands of a BDSM obsessed billionaire named Christian Grey. It is set for release on February 13th.

Fifty Shades of Grey - First Trailer

I would say I should probably read the book again but I really don't want to. Just like I don't really want to see this movie. If I wanted to watch a bad plot with creepy bondage sex I would watch a porno online for free.




But, nevertheless this is a big thing for a lot of people. As far as the casting goes I actually think the actors they decided on are good choices. They seem to have a lot of chemistry which is never a bad thing for a film like this. I foresee this being another Twilight type franchise. It will be widely made fun of and criticized, but the true fanbase will love it no matter how bad it is. Fifty Shades of Grey whips its way into theaters (oh, that pun) on February 14, 2015.

And in case you really don't know what this story is about... do not go see this with your parents. It will get very awkward very quickly.


EDIT:  I decided to take the plunge and re-read the first book and continue on with the second and third. I was curious to see if I could make it through all three of them. After finishing the trilogy and watching this trailer a couple more times I will compliment them on one thing... it looks very close to the book.
You can pinpoint exact scenes from the book and they are right there in the trailer. Examples being Christian carrying Ana down the hall in the bathrobe (it is described in much detail), seeing Ana's hair in the braid (explained in the book), Christian's "special" jeans (explained in the book), Ana's dinner with the Grey family (a rather... awkward chapter), Christian flying the glider with Ana in Georgia (surprise), him picking her up in the helicopter (duh), etc.. It is all there. If the whole movie is that close they definitely did something not many movie adaptations achieve.
Another thing I will reiterate since I already mentioned it is this is really good casting. Since I found out that Dakota Johnson had been cast I did remember briefly seeing her in The Social Network and recalled people online saying she is becoming a notorious scene stealer. Although she was close I wouldn't say she stole the whole scene from Justin Timberlake in The Social Network, but she definitely overpowered Jason Segel in The Five Year Engagement and she was only in it for maybe 5min. She looks a bit older than she actually is, but there is no denying that she is very likeable and that is definitely something they needed for Ana because the character is unbelievably annoying. She doesn't become likeable, for me, until the last quarter of the third book.  She is crippled by attraction, stubborn, and weak minded.
As far as Jamie Dornan goes, I think he has a lot of promise but there is no telling for sure. Here's to hoping he has the creep factor because Christian is definitely a creeper and is very intense. If I see the movie and he isn't making me uncomfortable then they went with the wrong actor. Simple as that.