Jamie Dornan is not quitting the Fifty Shades franchise

Rumors have been running rampant regarding the unannounced, but inevitable, Fifty Shades sequels and the latest victim was the franchise's lead actor, Jamie Dornan. The rumors were that he was reportedly quitting the franchise because of his wife's discomfort with the role and his popularity.

Dornan released a statement today via his representative to set the record straight:

"Jamie is delighted that the film is breaking box office records worldwide and whilst the studio has not made any formal announcements about sequels, he is looking forward to making the next film."

In addition to that, it was made clear that Dornan would not be making any further statements until the sequels are officially announced. Many sources are now saying that both Dornan and Dakota Johnson have already signed contracts for the sequels and it's just a waiting game until the studio sorts out the problems and announces them. Johnson previously let it slip in an interview with Telegraph that it was a good thing she was excited for the sequels because she has to do them. 

I think at this point the best thing to do regarding this franchise is to not believe anything you read or hear unless it's coming directly from Universal.

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.