The Fifty Shades of Grey sequels are shaping up to be a delightful cautionary tale/trainwreck. The movie opened huge with $81 million, but then suffered a 73% drop the following weekend. That means word of mouth was negative, and fans didn’t like the film enough for repeat viewings. It was a smash-and-grab job, but it has managed to net over $500 million worldwide, which is impressive based on its relatively low budget.
But getting to this kind of box office success was a trial that saw constant bickering between author E.L. James and director Sam Taylor-Johnson, stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson loathing each other, and the sequel is without a writer, director, or a release date. This was before the cuckoo author started demanding even more control over the sequels even though her interference drove away the director and will likely repel others from taking the job. And now the stars—who have no chemistry on or off screen—want huge raises.
According to THR, Dornan and Johnson are looking to get pay bumps in the seven figures to return. They were paid $250,000 each for the first movie and a three-picture deal, and although there were tiered box office bonuses, they didn’t receive any participation on the back end. Simply put, Fifty Shades is the crap role you take so that you can boost your profile for better projects. Their low salaries in turn helped keep the cost of production low. Everyone wins except people with good taste.