14 DAY TRIAL // Last week, word got out in the media that Jamie Dornan, who can now be seen as Christian Grey in the box office hit “Fifty Shades of Grey,” was having second thoughts about doing another installment (let alone two!) in the franchise, following a barrage of negative reviews and the lack of chemistry with his on-screen partner Dakota Johnson.
Dornan hadn’t fully appreciated all the implications of the project when he agreed to do the part, it was said, and now that he could, he wanted out. A publicist for Dornan was quick to react, saying he was thrilled to be part of the franchise and that he would return for one or more installments, if they were greenlit.
As it turns out, there was some truth to the initial report: Dornan did threaten to leave, but he never intended to carry through with it.
It’s all about the Benjamins
According to reports cited by the Daily Mail, Dornan did have second thoughts about being part of the “Grey” franchise because, with the first film, he got a taste of what his life would look like for at least a few more years, with the good and the bad together.
He started to dread the idea of being typecast, and at the same time, of having to read such mocking reviews of his work. Apparently, he too assumed the next two films wouldn’t be received better than the first one by the critics, for the obvious reasons.
So he made his thoughts on leaving known to the studio, which, in response, threw a huge sum of money at him. Nothing to make an actor sleep better at night than the promise of a fat check, the report concludes: the threat became leverage in a salary renegotiation, so Dornan will make £4.5 million ($6.9 million / €6.1 million), considerably more than what he was paid for the first film, to appear in the sequel.
Either the actor had no idea this would happen if he threatened to leave, or he’s already mastered the number one negotiation skill in Hollywood.
Dornan wants author James to tone it down
A different report, this time in the Express, claims that Dornan’s threat to exit was directly linked with author E.L. James’ plans to have even more control over the films based on her best-selling trilogy of novels.
Right now, Universal Pictures is yet to officially announce the sequel because James is trying to convince studio bosses to allow her to write her own script, with the view of keeping the second film closer to the book than the first one, which fortunately kept some of the most cringe-worthy aspects in the novel out of the story.
To boot, Sam Taylor-Johnson, who directed the first film, is believed to be heading to greener pastures and more “serious” projects, especially since she had to fight her way to getting “Shades” done - and all the fighting was with James, of course. James used all the weight offered to her by her producing credit to try and have control over every aspect of the film.
Dornan tried to use the fact that he’s indispensable to get Universal to take James down a notch.
“Jamie has made it known that doubts could be in place if Sam Taylor-Johnson [director] exits, but it's just a ploy designed to put pressure on James and push her to loosen her grip. The truth is that Jamie plans to do all three, and very much with the backing of his family,” the insider says.
Hilariously, the spy fails to say whether Dornan’s method worked or not.