E.L. James is absolutely best known as The Fifty Shades of Grey author, which is a big deal considering the book was recently announced as the most popular title of the last decade. But when you are the author of the biggest book in the past 10 years, it can be a little difficult to move beyond the characters.
It’s something E.L. James did this year with The Mister, a story she had actually concocted before she began writing the fanfiction that eventually became Fifty Shades of Grey. However, along with that book release, she reported she was “nervous” about moving on from Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey, noting,
I’m incredibly nervous about it. There are other stories I want to tell. I’ve been with these two for so long.
In fact, E.L. James did spend a lot of time with Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey. She worked on fanfiction that later became Fifty Shades of Grey for years before the first book’s publication and the fanfiction was initially posted to the interwebs in 2009. In 2011 the aforementioned first book was published. Then between 2011 and 2017, James published more stories following the characters, the last couple were retellings from Christian’s point of view called Grey and Darker.
In between, she also served as a producer for the movies based on the books and even cameoed in 2018’s Book Club, about a group of women reading the popular BDSM romance title. Fifty Shades of Grey may have been the most popular book of the last decade, but the franchise also took a decade or more to build.
The incredible popularity of the universe she built is still a “shock” to E.L. James, as she also mentioned to The Independent in the interview.
It’s still a bit of a shock to me. I’ve been looking at it going, ‘What the hell happened?’
What the hell happened is she sold a ton of books and then her new book The Mister also sold a ton of books, to the point where the studios have already been circling regarding the movie rights. A The Mister movie hasn’t been greenlighted yet, but it will be interesting to see if she is caught up in the circus whirlwind of this book to movie cycle for a while yet.
In the meantime, we’ve yet to hear what E.L. James has coming yet, although the popular author has previously said she has an idea for a fourth Fifty Shades book, should the opportunity arise. So, she’s saying “there’s a chance!”
CinemaBlend will be sure to keep you updated every step of the way. In the meantime, that Valentine’s Day window when the new Fifty-related releases used to come out is coming up shortly, so now is the perfect time for a rewatch. Or, if you are looking for something romantic to soothe your soul since there's no new Jamie Dornan starrer this February, take a look at our full schedule to peruse the romances coming up.
