The Classic Men In Black Prop That Plays A Big Role In The Reboot

The Classic Men In Black Prop That Plays A Big Role In The Reboot

Sing it with us: “Here come the Men In Black… again!” It has been seven years since the black-suited galaxy protectors at the Men In Black graced our movie screens, and Sony plans to bring the outfit out of mothballs for this summer’s Men In Black International. There will be some major changes. Gone are Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, staples of the series through the first three films. In their place are new agents played by Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, each eager to take on a globe-trotting adventure.

With the movie’s release date on the horizon, CinemaBlend ventured to London to spend time on the set of director F. Gary Gray’s sequel and learn about how Men In Black International planned to move the story forward, while also leaning on the franchise’s past. There will be nods to the existing Men In Black movies – heck, Emma Thompson reprises her role as Agent O, proving this story takes place in the same continuity as the Smith and Jones adventures. And one prop, in particular, will play more of a central role in this movie’s narrative.

Producer Walter Parkes opened up about the development of the story for Men In Black International, saying that Chris Hemsworth’s character, Agent H, is well-known for defeating a villain known as The Hive. Only, maybe he didn’t… and his memory is affected by the infamous neuralyzer that’s always used in the MiB series. Parkes told CinemaBlend:

Rafe [Spall] plays Agent C, who’s Chris’s rival. The Hive is the villainous force that Liam [Neeson] and Chris defeated four years before all of this. And our story deals with a sort of repeating history. The Hive have come back, and we discover that the circumstances of the great moment that made Chris’s character a hero may not have been true. So it’s interesting. … You know the thing about the neuralyzer, it’s a very interesting prop in the Men in Black universe, and the idea of taking people’s memories away and putting in false memories, which we’ve used but sort of around the kind of periphery of our plots, might have a little more central role in this one.

That’s an interesting approach. Is it possible that Chris Hemsworth’s Agent H was neuralyzed by his own people into believing he did some heroic deeds? In the initial trailer for Men In Black International, Hemsworth was playing his character as someone who is a little aloof and above the action, perhaps seeing himself as too good to worry about alien creatures and otherworldly messes. Maybe it’s because his memory has been altered? We’ll know soon enough.

Tessa Thompson, meanwhile, fits into the narrative as a New York-based fan of the MiB who discovers the secret agency, then talks Emma Thompson’s supervisor into letting her into the organization. Tessa will join Hemsworth on his missions, and probably prove herself to be more adept at alien busting than the burly Aussie is.

See their chemistry on display in that full Men In Black International trailer:

It’s cool that the new story is making good use of props from the original series, and evening finding important ways to potentially use them and add fresh angles to the Men In Black narrative. The use of the neuralyzer is a signature move for MiB, and I’m curious about how using it on an agent like H will impact the story.

Find out when Men In Black International arrives in theaters on June 14. And stay on CinemaBlend for a lot more coverage from our visit to the set of F. Gary Gray’s upcoming sequel.

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Miss Klaus? See The Originals' Joseph Morgan At His New Movie's Screening

Miss Klaus? See The Originals' Joseph Morgan At His New Movie's Screening

Klaus Mikaelson is gone but not forgotten to fans of The Originals and The Vampire Diaries. Klaus is regularly name-dropped on The CW's current spinoff series Legacies, keeping him fresh in fans' minds. It happened again this week in a big Klaroline way, leading many fans to wistfully wonder what actor Joseph Morgan is up to.

Well, if you'll be in the Southern California area in early April, you may be able to see for yourself. His short film Carousel is working the film festival circuit, and the actor himself teased the the next screening would be April 3 in Beverly Hills:

Joseph Morgan tweeted out a link to the Beverly Hills Film Festival, hoping to see fans there. Morgan directed Carousel, which he also co-wrote and co-starred in alongside Persia White. The two stars are also married, after meeting on the set of The Vampire Diaries, where she played the recurring role of Abby Bennett Wilson.

Here's the film description on the Night Owl Productions site:

Carousel is a story of love, loss and the hope for redemption when a criminal escapes death and gets a second chance at life in more than one way. As we delve into an emotional journey that beckons us to consider how the consequences of our past actions, like a carousel, keep returning to us again, and again, until time runs out.

Check out the trailer:

Carousel has traveled to many film festivals since October 2018, and you can check the site to see if it will be playing anywhere near you, or if it might become available to watch in other ways.

Persia White and Joseph Morgan also produced the comedy Juice Truck, which is listed as playing at the Los Angeles Women's International Film Festival in March 2019.

The Originals Season 5 finale, also the series finale, aired August 1, 2018. So it hasn't even been a full year since the first Vampire Diaries spinoff went off the air. Still, there had been hope that we'd see Joseph Morgan back on screen with the Gone Baby Gone series. He had the role of Patrick Kenzie, the same role Casey Affleck had in the 2007 movie. But in May 2018, Deadline revealed that Fox had passed on the Gone Baby Gone pilot.

If you're looking for other stars of The Originals, Riley Voelkel (Freya Mikaelson) joined The CW's Roswell, New Mexico, which also co-stars Vampire Diaries alum Michael Trevino. And Charles Michael Davis (Marcel Gerard) is a new addition to For the People Season 2 on ABC. Of course, Joseph Morgan's on-screen daughter Danielle Rose Russell (Hope Mikaelson) is now the star of the spinoff Legacies, which just saw the return of another supporting character from The Originals this past week.

Earlier in Legacies Season 1, we got an update on what happened to Klaus in the afterlife. Unfortunately, The Originals finale pretty much ruled out Joseph Morgan's return to the show, unless they want to do the vision/spirit thing.

The Vampire Diaries ended a full two years ago, as of this past March 10, and those stars have also been keeping busy on TV and in some films through 2019. Keep up with everything headed to the big screen this year with our 2019 movie release schedule.

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Christopher McQuarrie Admits He’s ‘Freaked Out’ About Directing Two More Mission: Impossible Movies

Christopher McQuarrie Admits He’s ‘Freaked Out’ About Directing Two More Mission: Impossible Movies

If there’s a word that describes the direction that the Mission: Impossible franchise has taken in its most recent years, it’s “escalation.” Writer/director Christopher McQuarrie has been working on the franchise since his uncredited work on Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol brought him to the table, with Rogue Nation marking his directing debut in the series. And now, with Mission: Impossible – Fallout driving the stakes even higher, and two more films on the franchise slate, McQuarrie is unsurprisingly freaked out about making the next two entries in the series.

With three films under his belt, and the pair known as Mission: Impossible 7 and Mission: Impossible 8 in his cart for the foreseeable future, Christopher McQuarrie talked about the way he landed himself into this proverbial mess. McQuarrie’s summation of the situation was as follows:

I pitched the idea of making two movies, and now I have to justify why it’s two movies. You’ve got to earn that. You’ve got to make something that swallows the last three movies whole. I’m freaked out now. We’ve talked ourselves into something. Holy shit.

The first nugget to unpack from Christopher McQuarrie’s comments on the next two Mission: Impossible films is the fact that he’s planning something so big, it needed two films to tell. Right there, any sane director who isn’t named Joe or Anthony Russo would be shaking more than a little bit, as making two back-to-back films as big in scope and budget as Mission: Impossible is a prospect.

Then comes the fact that while Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 are continuing the franchise, judging by Christopher McQuarrie’s comments above, it sounds like these twin amazements are going to bring a new level of story continuity to the franchise. While previous history had the series operating on a "mission of the movie" strategy, the films have slowly been morphing into something akin to James Bond's continuing war with SPECTRE.

It increasingly sounds like these two films, opening just a little over a year apart from each other, are going to operate on the same sort of schedule, and some information already available would support that theory. Previous stories have reported that Mission: Impossible 7 would not only see the confirmed return of Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust, but there was also a potential for the return of Henry Cavill’s August Walker and Alec Baldwin’s Alan Hunley, both of whom perished in Mission: Impossible – Fallout. Coupled with the seventh film being close in release, and continuity, to Mission: Impossible 8, we can pretty much assume that the story of the IMF versus The Syndicate isn’t over just yet.

Still, as McQuarrie told Empire Online, the prospect of making two more Mission: Impossible movies would be intimidating at face value. This story that Christopher McQuarrie has expanded the series lore with has grown more exciting, and more elaborate, with each passing film. If there’s anything that’s gotten bigger than the story these movies have to tell, it’s the impressive stunts and action sequences, which see Tom Cruise pushing himself into harder edged practical thrills each time out.

Perhaps the best way to sum up the supposed problem Christopher McQuarrie has with his continuation of the Mission: Impossible series is summed up in a further comment he offered in this same interview:

Here’s the problem with going to the moon: how do you fall from the moon?

While we don’t know how one is supposed to fall from the moon, we certainly hope Tom Cruise hasn’t read that and started drawing plans for a lunar freefall in his head. That particular feat seems too impossible, but what isn’t outside of the realm of possibility is the fact that Cruise and McQuarrie can definitely work out something so impressive that the next two Mission: Impossible films will be something to behold. After all, this franchise isn’t Mission: Play It Safe, it’s Mission: Impossible.

Mission: Impossible 7 is slated for release on July 23, 2021, with Mission: Impossible 8 having an August 5, 2022 debut penciled into its schedule. But if you want to see something in your local theater in a more recent context, check out our 2019 release schedule for an up-to-date roster of this year’s major releases.

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How Many Dune Movies Could Denis Villeneuve Potentially Make?

How Many Dune Movies Could Denis Villeneuve Potentially Make?

Warning: The following contains some SPOILERS for Frank Herbert’s Dune novels!

With fingers tightly crossed that there won’t be any delays, next year will see the release of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. The Arrival, Blade Runner 2049 and Sicario filmmaker has become one of the industry’s most exciting directors, telling bold and visually striking stories each time out, and he has put together an incredible cast to bring Frank Herbert’s seminal 1965 sci-fi novel to the big screen for the first time since David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation.

A talented, Oscar-nominated filmmaker working with a talented cast to bring a beloved story to life is exciting in its own right, but there may be a lot more reason to get invested in Dune beyond merely next year’s movie. Dune could be the start of something that extends well past 2020.

That’s because Dune is not intended as just a one-off in the way other modern science fiction movies like Arrival, Interstellar or Looper were. Dune is meant to be the beginning of at least a 2-part series based on the property, which has an abundance of expansive source material. Which raises the question, how many Dune movies could Denis Villeneuve potentially make?

For a while now it has been said that Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is being envisioned as a 2-parter. The first movie will cover approximately the first half of Frank Herbert’s novel with the second movie covering the second half. It's a 2-movie model akin to the cinematic adaptations of other beloved novels like The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and IT.

This approach makes sense so as to not shortchange the story. Dune is an expansive novel, and while David Lynch’s film covers the whole book, it is not an especially faithful adaptation. In contrast, the Dune mini-series on the then-Sci-fi Channel was a 3 episode, 4 hour and 25 minute telling of the story. Frank Herbert’s novel is extremely complex with tons of characters and moving pieces, not unlike Game of Thrones. So it is advantageous from a storytelling perspective to give the novel two films to tell the story of Paul Atreides.

However, unlike something like The Lord of the Rings, Dune parts one and two are not filming back to back. They will shoot individually, and presumably the second one getting made will hinge on the success of the first one. I’ve already written about what a financial gamble Dune might be so it’s not impossible that we only get one Denis Villeneuve Dune movie. But let’s air on the side of optimism and assume that Dune is great and a hit, what then? Denis Villeneuve has said that his goal is to make two films, maybe more.

That ‘maybe more’ coda opens up a whole range of possibilities where two films could give way to an entire series and franchise. Dune can be like Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope in terms of franchise potential; only here the story for more films already exists. Frank Herbert wrote six mainline Dune books before his death in 1986: Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune.

What starts as a hero’s journey to avenge his family, free his people and overthrow an evil empire morphs over time into a metaphysical family saga, rife with political intrigue and religious elements that is interstellar in scope, taking place over literally thousands of years. If Dune is Robert’s Rebellion against the Mad King, the rest of the series is A Song of Ice and Fire, what comes after happily ever after. And things get weird too; we’re talking half-human, half giant sandworm weird.

The series is considered to waver in quality from title to title, and there is a major question of ‘filmability’ with parts of the Dune saga and how well this challenging material will land with mass audiences, but based on the sheer amount of story from Frank Herbert’s six novels alone, Denis Villeneuve could do at least a few more movies after the Dune two-parter.

The most obvious way for this series to be adapted would be to only focus on the first three novels, Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. Those three novels take place in the same basic time period and follow many of the same characters. After that, there are massive time jumps. If that approach were taken, the series would theoretically require at least four movies, two for the first book and one each for the other two, unless somehow Messiah and Children were combined into one to form a tidy trilogy.

Only after those would it make sense to dig into the other novels. If it's successful, the mythology is dense enough to extend out even beyond Frank Herbert’s books. The author died after Chapterhouse: Dune and that novel ended with a cliffhanger, leaving some of the series’ story arcs unresolved. So years later, his son Brian Herbert and author Kevin J. Anderson used Frank Herbert’s notes to complete the saga with Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune. If Dune became a full-fledged cinematic series going that far into the story, the films would have to incorporate some elements from these later books, if not adapt them outright to complete the story in a satisfying manner.

Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson also wrote several trilogies in the Dune universe with events that take place before Frank Herbert’s work or fit into the timeline of that 6-book narrative. The events of these books could serve as either a prequel series or they could be cherry-picked and elements from them could be added to the main series of films.

Legendary also has the TV rights to Dune, so maybe it could take some of the stories, either by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson or Frank Herbert himself, and put those into television series, to complement the films, similar to what was supposed to happen with The Dark Tower and what is happening with The Kingkiller Chronicle.

A successful franchise is what every company in Hollywood wants, and Dune could be one for Legendary and Warner Bros. Essentially, if the success is there, Denis Villeneuve could basically live in the Dune universe for as long as he wants, becoming for this property what David Yates is for Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts.

That said, how many Dune movies there will be and how many Denis Villeneuve will make may be two separate questions. If Denis Villeneuve makes two films and they are successful, maybe he decides to leave it at that, but Legendary keeps the franchise going with a new director or directors.

A lot is riding, on the success of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, perhaps an entire franchise. So how many Dune movies could Denis Villeneuve potentially make? At least 1, maybe 2 and hopefully a lot more.

Dune opens on November 20, 2020. Check out our 2019 release schedule to keep track of all the movies heading to theaters this year.

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All The Harry Potter Movies, Ranked

All The Harry Potter Movies, Ranked

The Harry Potter franchise, for many individuals, was an integral part of their coming of age. Whether fans were the same age as Harry when he began his wizarding adventure, or a bit younger or older, the tale has amassed an army of fans with J.K. Rowling's novels and a successful film franchise to boot. Now as fans are in the midst of the spinoff Fantastic Beasts franchise, they may question whether the Harry Potter movies are still as good as they remember.

The short answer is "yes," although adult fans who already know the major beats may want to pick and choose which classic movies to revisit, and which ones may not be quite as fun now that they're all grown. Harry Potter's tale is still great, but some of the movies definitely stand out as superior to others. One may think all the films are the same quality, but will quickly realize upon re-watch this is far from the case.

Before diving into this list, it's worth mentioning again this ranked list is for those who know the world of Harry Potter and have already seen the movies. Trying to watch the movies in the ranking they're given for the first time would be absolute madness and is not at all advised by me, or probably any other fan. Watch the whole series through first, then come back to this list and see if you agree with these favorites.

8. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets

Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets may have been cool as hell to experience back in the day, but nowadays, it's a huge time suck. The Harry Potter movie clocks in at just under 3 hours in length, and was one of the last attempts to try and adapt even minor details from the corresponding book of the same name. It drags on upon re-watch, especially for audiences who know how it ends.

It was fine for the time it was released and, as mentioned, none of these movies are necessarily "bad." When measured up against its peers, however, there are far more engaging scenes to watch in other movies compared to Ron navigating a giant game of Wizard's Chess. Just remember that Harry unknowingly got Voldemort's diary, and ended up saving his future wife from a Basilisk while also unintentionally destroying a Horcrux. As for the rest, well, it can largely be forgotten.

7. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 isn't just an awkward title, it's a movie with an awkward ending. While the intention of splitting the final book into two separate movies was the right idea from Warner Bros., it required this Harry Potter movie to essentially end at the middle point in the story.

Now, that middle point was Voldemort's stealing of the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's corpse, which was pretty dark and crazy. Still, in the context of what's to come, Harry Potter movie lovers may find themselves a bit too anxious to suffer through all of the depressing parts of this movie knowing the real action is laying in wait in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2. As a consolation, it's one of the best in that it made Part 2 a stronger film, so there's that!

6. Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix

Much like in the books, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was the Harry Potter movie where the main cast "grew up." Everyone in the cast dealt with their own issues and the fact the magical world at large was unwilling to admit Voldemort had truly returned. This was also the directorial debut of David Yates, who would direct the rest of the movies from then on.

So, what makes this Harry Potter movie a cut above the two previous entries? Beyond the fact the general story shifts to a more adult tone, Dolores Umbridge was one of the best villains in the franchise. It helped that the actress who played her, Imelda Staunton, was a near-perfect casting that really encapsulated what made the headmaster so damn irksome and evil. Watch for Umbridge, stay for the heart-wrenching exit of Sirius Black.

5. Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince

At the risk of proving my point with its middling status on this list, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is one of the more underrated titles of the franchise. It's forced to navigate a sort of sexual awakening amongst the characters, and also shows the death of Albus Dumbledore all in the span of two and a half hours, which sounds like a damn near impossible task.

Yet Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince manages to do both well enough, and may even convince some audiences to feel a sense of pity for Draco Malfoy, who never deserved any prior. The Slytherin goes through quite the gauntlet of emotions in this adventure, which is somewhat overshadowed by other events, but tragic to see nonetheless. It's a performance Tom Felton can be proud of, provided he ever re-watches the Harry Potter movies down the road.

4. Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone

It's the Harry Potter movie that started it all, and just as enjoyable to watch today as it was back then. Perhaps it's the nostalgia of reliving the movie that showed Hogwarts for the first time, or the wonderful directing of Chris Columbus? There's also that awesome iconic scene of Hagrid's arrival to tell Harry he's a wizard, which remains one of the most memorable moments in this franchise.

Really, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is the Harry Potter movie that set the standard for all of the films that followed. It's still very much a kids film, but there's enough maturity to it that older fans won't groan and feel bored living through it once again. At least, not as much as they would while watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and watching Ron Weasley freak out about spiders.

3. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban

This is hands down the best of the young Harry Potter movies, and a lot of that is credit to Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuaron. He expertly edited down the story into a masterful adaptation, which was a challenge the two prior films balked at. It was a great decision that effectively set a standard for the movie world of Harry Potter: that all events directly affecting Harry stayed, and the rest got shuffled out.

It also helps that Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban marked a significant change in the main cast. Each actor came into their own as actors, and it was the first film in which Michael Gambon took on the role of Albus Dumbledore. There's so much that is different about Azkaban compared to the first two films it could've caused some massive backlash, but instead, it created one of the best Harry Potter movies of the whole franchise.

2. Harry Potter And The Goblet of Fire

It was quite a tall order for a film to tackle Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which featured one of the biggest events to have ever happened at Hogwarts, The Triwizard Tournament. The scale of the film still feels massive upon re-watch, and while the movie left out a good deal of material from the book, it nailed the whole scope and majesty of the tournament rather well.

It's still so satisfying to watch, and fun right up until Cedric Diggory's corpse flops in front of the unassuming crowd at the final event. Some would argue the Harry Potter movie somewhat undersells Voldemort's return with too much emphasis on the tournament, but things get so dark after Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, fans revisiting should appreciate the final truly lighthearted adventure in the franchise right before everything goes to shit.

1. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2

As mentioned earlier, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 took the bullet so that this Harry Potter movie could get a lion's share of the glory. It offered a non-stop thrill ride that led up to the final showdown between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. We even got a scene where Mrs. Weasley called Bellatrix a bitch; it's just all so fantastic!

It's not often that fans of a franchise should hit up the final film first when contemplating a re-watch, but starting from the beginning may cause a burn out before hitting this gem. Hit this one up early because it's a great way to reflect on how far the franchise came leading to that grand finale. The book helped, but the movies really brought a fantastical and tragic final sequence together in a way imaginations couldn't quite do justice.

Related: The Harry Potter Cast: A Look Back Then And Now

Those who disagree with the ranking or just want to sing praises of the wonderful Harry Potter universe can do so in the comment section below. Make your opinion heard and then hop over to the other sections on CinemaBlend for all the latest news in movies, television, and pop culture.

Or let us know your own ranking of the films using the survey below!

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Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Director Has A Wild Vision For A Spinoff

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Director Has A Wild Vision For A Spinoff

Five years after Godzilla was rebooted by Hollywood, the franchise goes into full gear this weekend with the release of Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The movie will see the return of the iconic Kaiju as he faces off with three behemoth titans: Rodan, Mothra and King Ghidorah. Legendary’s MonsterVerse is expanding!

Godzilla: King of the Monsters director and co-writer Mike Dougherty pitched a clever new way to present the rich mythology of these titans during a recent Twitter Q&A. Check it out:

Uhh… yes! This is a genius idea by the Godzilla director that would be great to see! Taking a note from the popular BBC docuseries Planet Earth, Michael Dougherty would like to focus on the monstrous creatures in their daily lives and natural habitats under the narration of the legendary David Attenborough. This documentary idea could be a great way for fans to geek out about the monsters close up and for newcomers to learn more about them.

David Attenborough has been narrating and reporting about nature and natural history since the ‘60s, but he is best known for voicing the Planet Earth series and most recently with Netflix’s Our Planet. It would be fun to see him spoof his other works in a sense with this unique contribution to the Godzilla series. Although these creatures are fictional, they have a rich history that has been legend on the big screen since 1954.

Michael Dougherty has more where that came from too! The filmmaker recently discussed another fun idea about a prequel that delves into Godzilla’s beginnings in ancient times. Check out his words:

I like the idea of going back in time and telling creatures' stories from different eras. Skull Island was set in the '70s, but personally I'd like to do Godzilla B.C., go back to ancient times and really see the Ray Harryhausen-esque world where primitive humans had to try to survive with these creatures. Maybe we'd get to see the first time mankind truly encountered Godzilla, and get to see how that relationship was christened.

Why not both? I can also see the Planet Earth type documentary including some background like this where it explores Godzilla’s interactions with early humans before fast-forwarding to the monster today, who often wanders around skyscrapers.

While we daydream about these potential additions to the franchise, fans already have tons to look forward from Michael Dougherty’s vision. King of the Monsters will follow the secret scientific organization Monarch’s dealings with the titans in this newly released film. The movie debuts this weekend to mixed to positive reviews.

On March 13, 2020, Godzilla vs. Kong will showcase an unlikely battle between the two icons. The movie is also co-written by Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields. The filmmaker could theoretically keep bringing more fresh ideas to the MonsterVerse depending on how King of the Monsters does at the box office this weekend.

Are you interested in these spinoff ideas? Let us know in the comments!

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E.L. James Had A Miserable Time Filming Fifty Shades Of Grey, Which Led To Christian’s Book

E.L. James Had A Miserable Time Filming Fifty Shades Of Grey, Which Led To Christian’s Book

E.L. James is an author who is happy to talk about the process of writing. We know, for example that her Fifty Shades books started as Twilight fan fiction and that her new book The Mister started coming together even before Fifty Shades of Grey. Recently, the author also revealed that her work on the Fifty Shades of Grey movie is what caused the Fifty Shades of Grey as told by Christian to come together.

So, how did this come about? Apparently, E.L. James’ stress on the set of Fifty Shades of Grey led to her writing the chapter from Christian's point of view that would go into Fifty Shades Freed. That led to a more extensive writing project, and the rest is history. Per the author,

In the back of the book of Fifty Shades Freed, when that came out, I actually put the first chapter of Fifty Shades of Grey in Christian’s point of view, just as a sort of bonus for readers, and people started asking me, ‘Oh, can you write this, can you write this, can you write this?’ And I didn’t have time and I didn’t expect to do it, but I had such a miserable time making the Fifty Shades of Grey movie that when I finished that I sat down and wrote that novel, and it was a really cathartic experience for me. I didn’t realize it would be quite as popular as it was.

The fact that director Sam Taylor-Johnson and E.L. James did not have the best relationship has been known for a while. Taylor-Johnson previously talked about how she and the author were not on the same wavelength, noting,

I like everyone, and I get really confused when they don't like me. I was so confused by EL James. I don't understand when I can't navigate a person, when there's no synergy.

However, E.L. James has been less blunt about her experience during the first movie in the trilogy, at least until now. In her interview with AZ Central, she touches on how unhappiness led to a fruitful writing breakthrough, but she still doesn’t get particularly gossipy about the experience.

I wish I could have been a fly on the wall on that set to see how the two interacted, however.

Ultimately, what E.L. James feels was kind of a rough situation turned out pretty happily. In general, fans seem to love the Fifty Shades of Grey movie, although Sam Taylor-Johnson did not return to the franchise.

In addition, Fifty Shades of Grey as told by Christian was given 1.25 million printings just for its initial run and the book sold over a million copies during its first week of release.

As has been common with the story of Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele, critics have been less nice about the series, but fans have totally devoured it.

We’ll have to wait and see if a fourth Fifty Shades series book ever comes to fruition. However, you can catch the full trilogy of movies on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital now, or grab your own copy of new book The Mister.

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