The other days, Universal teased fans with a quick snippet of footage for Fifty Shades Darker, the anticipated follow up to the smash hit based on E.L. James' bestselling novel. Will lightning be able to strike the same sexy, steamy spot twice? We'll find out early next year, but for now, the full trailer is ready to get you hot and bothered. Here's a longer look at Fifty Shades Darker:
"Intrigued?" Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) asks his lover (play thing?) Anastasia (Dakota Johnson) as he presents her with a gift of masks. At that moment, the sexual music swells -- another take on Beyonce's "Crazy in Love" -- and the erotic imagery flows across the screen. Though the trailer asks us to forget the past, the music is a good callback to the first movie, and should rekindle in potential audience members what they found alluring about the first movie.
The trailer continues with Christian's attempts to win Ana back. As you may recall, the first movie ended with her boarding an elevator, and leaving the potential harmful -- emotionally and physically -- world of Christian Grey and his sexual games. But his obsession with the submissive Ana has become an obsession, and he seeks to bring their relationship to the next level. Will she go along?
How will things change between these two? When Anastasia agrees to come back, she tells Christian that this time, there will be "no rules, no punishments." The trailer suggests that a shower scene will become the next most-replicated scene between red-hot lovers when they get home from their Fifty Shades Darker screenings. And we get our first look at Christian's former sex mentor, Elena Lincoln, played by none other than Kim Basinger!
Fifty Shades Darker is directed by James Foley (Fear, House of Cards), working off of the follow-up novel by E.L. James. The screenplay for this one will be handled by Niall Leonard. The sequel returns Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan to their signature roles, and also finds parts for returning cast members Marcia Gay Harden, Jennifer Ehle, Luke Grimes, Rita Ora, Victor Rasuk, Eloise Mumford and Max Martini. In addition to Basinger, the sequel has recruited Hugh Dancy, Bella Heathcote and Eric Johnson for key roles.
The original Fifty Shades of Grey was a blockbuster hit for Universal, capitalizing on its Valentine's Day release date to earn $571 million in worldwide grosses. Wow. The sequel till try to live up to those numbers when it opens in theaters on February 10, 2017.
