Approval of God: Stephenie Meyer has stated that, even though she's never read the books and probably never will, she still supports E. L. James in her endeavors — no small feat given that Meyer is a devout Mormon and the books began life as sexually explicit fanfiction of her Twilight novels.
In Italy, Fifty Shades Darker was renamed Cinquanta Sfumature di Nero (Fifty Shades of Black), and Fifty Shades Freed was renamed Cinquanta Sfumature di Rosso (Fifty Shades of Red).
In Poland, Fifty Shades of Grey was published as Pięćdziesiąt twarzy Greya (Fifty faces of Grey).
In Sweden, Fifty Shades of Grey is translated to what amounts to "Fifty shades of him", since the pun in the title is untranslatable.
Fandom Life Cycle: The series is kind of a weird example. Both the books and their film adaptations were profitable and they're well-known in pop culture by now, but more out of infamy than widespread popularity. The original fanfic version, Master of the Universe, became a cult hit, reaching Stage 2; after the fic was reworked into an original piece it reached Stage 3 at the height of its success in the 2010's, and possibly made it to Stage 4 after the first movie came out. Despite becoming popular very quickly after its publication, Fifty Shades also ended up with a lot of detractors. It's therefore hard to say if the series ever truly reached Stage 5 because despite many people outside the core fandom being aware of the books, it's mostly via jokes about the explicit content (including several parodies) and/or criticism over the series' portrayal of BDSM and romantic relationships.
The series is almost named the same as the quirky and innovative fantasy novel by Jasper FfordeShades of Grey. To make the confusion perfect, some translations of this series kept the English title, but cut the "Fifty".
Also Between Shades of Grey, which has an upcoming film adaptation which will be renamed Ashes in the Snow, presumably to avert this trope and avoid confusion.
The title of the original fanfic, Master of the Universe, is one letter off the fantasy franchise created by Mattel in the 1980's.
Because of SM's policy of not showing R-18 films in their theatres, the film was not shown in some cities in the Philippines. Though that didn't stop the movie from being a box office hit and illegally downloaded on the web.
Malaysia banned the movie for its "sadistic" and "unnatural" content. It's also been banned in Kenya, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea and India, for unspecified reasons.
Billing Displacement: Rita Ora was heavily promoted as being part of the first film, but she's ultimately barely in it.
Played straight with "Love Me Like You Do". While the film was a huge hit, it noticeably died out very quickly. Meanwhile, Ellie Goulding had the biggest hit of her career with this song. Although the movie was why the song became a hit in the first place.
Zig-zagged as of May 2015, with "Earned It" by The Weeknd. In addition to not being nearly as big a hit as "Love Me Like You Do" (with its success mostly local to North America), it uses the title of the movie as a subtitle, so the song hasn't really broken away the same way that "Love Me Like You Do" has. While he was popular on the internet, "Earned It" gave him his first mainstream Top 40 hit as a solo artist, and it went Top 5. It was at first expected to be completely overshadowed by "Love Me Like You Do", so it was still a big accomplishment for him.note In fact, it also turned him from a lesser-known artist with a large cult following to a bonafide mainstream act overnight. His two follow-up songs, "Can't Feel My Face" and "The Hills," both debuted in the Top 25 and peaked at the top of the chart. Keep in mind that he hadn't had a Top 40 hit of his own until "Earned It". This was then cemented when it got an Academy Award nomination, setting the Internet on fire with the notion that we now have to say "Oscar nominee Fifty Shades of Grey."
B-Team Sequel: Sam Taylor-Johnson refused to consider returning for the sequel. She cited frequent clashes with E.L. James, who had received final approval on everything from the studio, as a source of much frustration. She was replaced by James Foley, who was stated to have a "great relationship" with the author, and worked on both of the sequels.
California Doubling: The movie was almost entirely shot in Canada - even Washington State University Vancouvernote (yes, there's a place in Washington State called Vancouver) was played by the University of British Columbia in the other Vancouver.
E.L. James stated in a 2019 interview that she had "a miserable time" making the Fifty Shades of Grey movie (possibly because of the constant disagreements with the director) and that she found writing Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian to be "cathartic" at that time.note both were released in 2015
Sam Taylor-Johnson stated that she regrets having directed the first film, citing her difficulties working with E. L. James as one of the main reasons, and that the final film ended up being completely different from her original vision.
Screenwriter Kelly Marcel admitted feeling disappointed over how most of her ideas for the first movie were thrown out by E.L James (like Sam Taylor-Johnson, Marcel wanted to make a more Pragmatic Adaptation). She also admitted she hadn't even seen the finished film.
While Dakota Johnson doesn't regret starring in the films overall, she did state in a 2022 interview with Vanity Fair that she found making the first film difficult due to the constant clashing between Sam Taylor-Johnson and E.L. James, with the script frequently being rewritten or scenes reshot to fit one creator's vision over the other and the actors forced to go along. Johnson stated that "I signed up to do a very different version of the film we ended up making", hinting she preferred the original script that was thrown out after Charlie Hunnam left the project. She also stated that she felt there were parts of the book that just didn't translate well onscreen despite James' demands for their inclusion. Johnson referred to the filming process as "crazy" and "psychotic", and said that if she'd known at the time what it would be like "I don't think anyone would've done it".
Creator Couple: E.L. James was a producer and creative consultant for all three films, while her husband Niall Leonard wrote the screenplays for Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed.
Deleted Role: Hugh Dancy was reported to have been cast as Dr Flynn and apparently filmed some scenes, but the character was completely cut, with Dancy even denying he was in the film during an interview.
Disowned Adaptation: E.L James hinted in a 2023 interview with Bustle that she wasn't too happy with how the first Fifty Shades movie turned out and had only watched it once since it came out. She didn't go into too much detail on what she disliked, stating that she didn't want to "muddy that water" for fans of her books who enjoyed the movie, but that she herself wasn't keen. When asked what she would do differently if a film adaptation of The Mister was made, she said she would "make sure the director was sympathetic to the material", implying that her Creative Differences with Sam Taylor-Johnson were part of the issue.
Dakota Johnson had to dye her natural blond hair to brunette.
Both leads followed an extremely strict diet and exercise regimen to get in shape for the film. Jamie Dornan is a naturally lean guy, and had to resort to waking up in the middle of the night to chug protein shakes in order to maintain muscle mass.
Northern-Irish Jamie Dornan as the American Christian Grey.
Rita Ora is English, playing American Mia Grey.
Hostility on the Set: Director Sam Taylor-Johnson and author/producer E.L James reportedly got into a lot of arguments over the first film, including arguing on-set. James vetoed many of Taylor-Johnson's attempts to change the plot and characters, while the director originally aimed for a more Pragmatic Adaptation. As a consequence, Taylor-Johnson refused to direct the sequels and expressed regret over making the film at all, citing her issues with James and their Creative Differences. James later hinted she felt Taylor-Johnson wasn't "sympathetic" to the source material.
Life Imitates Art: In possibly the most sinister example of the trope, the books and films have been linked to an increase in what is known as the "rough sex defence", now also called the "50 Shades of Grey defence". Men accused of rape and murder have instead pleaded guilty to manslaughter (which carries a far lighter sentence), stating that their victim was into BDSM and BDSM-themed erotica (with Fifty Shades being cited by name in some trials) and consented to violent acts during sex (such as strangulation), resulting in their accidental death. This defence predates the Fifty Shades series, but it's been noted that it became more prominent in the public consciousness after the books and movies became successful (sparking increased interest in BDSM).
Playing Against Type: In the Japanese dub, Anastasia is voiced by Ryōko Shiraishi, and while not the first time doing this, she is normally casted voicing action girls (and sometimes, boys), tomboys or women who normally doesn't take any kind of crap from any man (or anyone, for that matter), being her more notorious roles Asuka Kazama, Schrödinger and Hikage. Voicing a Extreme Doormat is pretty outside her normal modus operandi.
Release Date Change: The first film was originally supposed to be released on 1st August 2014, but was later bumped back to 14th February 2015 to line up with Valentine's Day.
Self-Adaptation: E.L. James served as a producer on all three films and had an unusual amount of creative control for a first-time author getting her debut trilogy adapted, including having final say on almost all creative decisions. This led to problems with the first film, as James' vision for the movie didn't always align with the director's; there were frequent arguments between them and ultimately neither of them were fully happy with the end product. James had even more influence over the next two films, as she and the replacement director got along better and James' husband stepped in as a new screenwriter.
Star-Making Role: For Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan. Dornan had technically already gained fame for his roles as Sheriff Graham in Once Upon a Time and especially as Paul Spector in The Fall (2013), though playing Christian helped make him an international household name. Johnson had appeared in a few notable films in supporting roles, with Anastasia being one of her first starring roles.
E. L. James wielded a large amount of creative control over everything from casting to the wardrobe to the final script — unusual for any novelist, let alone one whose only published work was a single series of three books. This led to no end of disputes between her and director Sam Taylor-Johnson, including getting into an hour-long shouting match in front of cast and crew after Taylor-Johnson suggested a rewrite for the climax. While Taylor-Johnson wanted to make a more Pragmatic Adaptation, James was very protective of her book and vetoed even the most minor deviations from it, and since James was the one with final say on all creative decisions, Taylor-Johnson often found herself forced to go along. It got so bad, that by the end of the production of the first film, Taylor-Johnson was fed up with the constant feuding with James, and declined to return as director for the sequels.
Casting of the film's male lead, the billionaire BDSM aficionado Christian Grey, took a long time. Robert Pattinson, Ryan Gosling, and Garrett Hedlund all turned the part down. Charlie Hunnam of Sons of Anarchy originally signed on, but later backed out citing conflicts in his schedule, though others have said that it was because he didn't like the script and clashed with the creative team over it. Eventually, they settled on Jamie Dornan.
During filming in Vancouver, several residents were upset over the commotion caused by the production. One man rang a cowbell out his apartment window, ruining several shots until the producers came to an agreement with him by moving the rain machine to another location.
Emilia Clarke was offered the part of Ana and stated in an interview that she found Sam Taylor-Johnson's vision for the film interesting (presumably this was before all the conflict between Taylor-Johnson and E.L James for creative control), but still turned down the role because she didn't want to only be known for nudity and sexual content after her role as Daenerys.note Clarke has expressed exasperation over constantly being asked about nude scenes in regards to Daenerys, even though she actually doesn't take her clothes off much after the first season and there's a lot more to the character than fanservice
Lucy Hale unsuccessfully auditioned for Ana, later stating she didn't even understand many of the sexual references at the time.
Keeley Hazell unsuccessfully auditioned twice for unspecified roles in the first film.
Bret Easton Ellis publicly expressed his desire to write the screenplay for the film.
At the end of the film, the director came up with the idea of Ana stopping Christian from following her into the elevator just by saying their safeword "Red." Sadly, E.L. James refused to let them do it.
Sam Taylor-Johnson wanted to make a Pragmatic Adaptation of the novel, addressing its criticisms and problematic elements, but clashed with E.L. James, who wanted the film to treat her novel like gospel. We can only wonder what kind of film Taylor-Johnson's untampered vision would've been.
In the lead up to Fifty Shades Darker's release, it was reported that Hugh Dancy had been cast as Dr Flynn, Christian's therapist, but when asked about it Dancy denied he was in the film and he was largely absent from advertizing (aside from some blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearances in trailers). Dr Flynn doesn't appear in the final film, so it seems the character was cut early on, though Dancy apparently filmed at least some scenes.
The movie won five Golden Raspberry Awards, including "Worst Picture", together with Fantastic Four (2015), and also "Worst Actor" for Jamie Dornan, "Worst Actress" for Dakota Johnson, "Worst Screenplay" and "Worst Screen Combo" for Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson. It was nominated for "Worst Director" but lost to Josh Trank of Fantastic Four.
To maintain secrecy, the first film was shot under the title The Adventures of Max & Banks. The sequels (shot back-to-back) were referred to as The Adventures of Max & Banks 2 & 3.
that, even though she's never read the books and probably never will, she still supports E. L. James in her endeavors — no small feat given that Meyer is a devout Mormon and the books began life as sexually explicit fanfiction of her Twilight novels.