Following on from the success – box office, if not completely critical – success of Fifty Shades Of Gray, Universal has acted quickly to start adapting the other two books of E.J. James' trilogy. And the first new cast member for the story is now on board, with Kim Basinger joining Fifty Shades Darker.
Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson are back as star-crossed and naughty bits-whipped lovers Christian Gray and Anastasia Steele, join by fellow returning cast members Luke Grimes, Eloise Mumford and Max Martini.
As for Basinger, she'll be Elena Lincoln, Christian's business partner and the woman who taught him everything he knows in the boardroom and the bedroom. Given that she first met him when he was 14, Anastasia somewhat naturally nicknames her "Mrs. Robinson". Niall Leonard – AKA Mr. E.L. James – has been working on the script with his wife, with James Foley on board to direct both this and Fifty Shades Freed.
Fifty Shades Darker arrives on February 10 next year, with Freed landing on February 19, 2018.