Whether you loved it, hated it, or would rather just pretend it didn’t exist, Fifty Shades of Grey was a box office hit. Costing just $40 million to make, the movie – which starred Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele and Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey – ended up grossing $569 million worldwide earlier this year. Both of those actors will be returning.
However, someone who won’t be returning is director Sam Taylor Johnson. Instead, James Foley (House of Cards) is set to take the helm of sequels Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, and with Kin Basinger recently added to the cast, another key role has been filled today. That is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies star Bella Heathcote.
She’s playing Leila, a former lover of Christian, who apparently bears the scars to prove it!
Heathcote’s other credits include Dark Shadows and the upcoming The Neon Demon.
Production on Fifty Shades Darker begins this Spring and the plan is to shoot that back to back with the third and final instalment. Luke Grimes, Eloise Mumford, and Max Martini are also returning to the cast, while Niall Leonard and James are penning the script together.
That schedule means that the studio is casting all of the key roles now, and more names are expected to be added to the Fifty Shades Darker cast in the next month or so. Exciting, eh?
European Premiere Interviews: The cast of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
