James Foley Is Frontrunner to Direct 'Fifty Shades' Sequel

According to Variety.com, James Foley is the frontrunner to land the job and that an offer should be delivered shortly for Foley to direct "Fifty Shades Darker."

Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson are attached to reprise their roles, with author E.L. James, Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti producing. Niall Leonard penned the script.

Execs had been meeting with directors over THE PAST several months since announcing that Sam Taylor-Johnson, who directed the first in the franchise, would not be returning as director.

Production is set to begin in the first quarter of 2016 with the film set to bow on Feb. 14, 2017, so Foley will have time to take a look at the script and get in shape for the shoot. Casting should get underway once Foley's deal is worked out but sources add the process shouldn't be as rigorous a search as it was in finding the franchise's to main leads.

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY is a 2015 British-American erotic romantic drama film directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson with a screenplay by Kelly Marcel, based on the 2011 novel of the same name by British author E. L. James. It stars Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele and Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey; Steele a college graduate who begins a sadomasochistic relationship with young business magnate Grey.