James Foley will take over the rest of the Fifty Shades sequels, because Sam Taylor-Johnson couldn’t take author, E.L. James’ sh-t anymore.

If you remember, Taylor-Johnson and screenwriter, Kelly Marcel walked away from the $560 million franchise because James was super controlling during the whole shoot. No matter James’ writing is terrible, and has no idea how to run a movie.

The sequels will now be shot back-to-back next year with Foley at the helm. He’s directed Glengarry Glen Ross, a couple episodes of House of Cards and Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach” video, to name a few. Oh, and if you’re worried about whether he can deliver on the smut, he also directed Fear. You know, the one where Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon get to second base on a roller coaster.

But because the universe is generous, James’ husband, Niall Leonard will write the screenplay for Fifty Shades Darker. Apparently he’s the only one who can stand to work with her. I know this looks bad, but if James had her way, she’d be writing the movie herself. At least Leonard is qualified. He’s written for a few projects on the BBC and did uncredited work on the first Fifty Shades script.

Sarah from Lainey Gossip made a great point that the rest of the movies will have a more male dominated team, unlike the first, which was written and directed by women. It’s a shame, not only because there are so few female directors, but also because the source material is so sexist to begin with. Not that men can’t write great roles for women (see Joss Whedon). But all this petty drama is reinforcing the stereotype that women all hate each other.

Header photo: Sam Taylor-Johnson via W Magazine

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