14 DAY TRIAL // The first of the trilogy of novels by E.L. James, “Fifty Shades of Grey,” is getting the film treatment, as fans probably know. Production on the feature film wrapped a few weeks back, before it went into post-production ahead of the February 2015 release.
Yet the other day, leading stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson were back on the set in Vancouver for reshoots. The photo attached to this article was snapped by paparazzi on this occasion, and it shows Dornan as the mysterious, handsome, and rich Christian Grey.
However, it’s not Dornan’s good looks that are now the topic of conversation among fans and industry people.
Reshoots are never a good sign
The end-date of a production is usually respected, because sticking to a schedule means the guarantee that the film doesn’t go over budget or takes longer than expected and can’t make the release date (or does make it, but a compromise is made with post-production work and all the effects are second grade because they’re rushed).
To put it simply, whenever a movie goes in for reshoots, you have a first sign of trouble. Of course, exceptions do occur for a variety of reasons, but you know what they say: it’s the exception that makes the rule. Reshoots are never a good sign.
This brings us back to “Fifty Shades.” E! News reports that whatever trouble it’s having, it’s not that serious as to make members of the cast worried, with the obvious implications that fans shouldn’t fret too much either. All is good in S&M land.
“They are still editing,” says an inside source. “They are happy so far with the way things are going. They are shooting fillers, having to add some more material. [E.L. James] did not feel there was enough, even though she is happy with everything so far.”
James didn’t just write the books that constitute the film’s (kinky) source material, she also gets a producing credit on the new franchise. As such, she has the final say in what goes in the final movie, or at least that’s our understanding of the quote above. If she was unhappy and was able to get everyone back for reshoots, she must be pulling all the strings.
“Jamie and Dakota are super relaxed and no issues as of yet on set. Everything is going good,” adds the same tipster.
“Fifty Shades,” a huge cinematic gamble
“Fifty Shades of Grey” will be just the first installment in a new film franchise that will, hopefully (for the studio) become at least as famous as “The Twilight Saga.” James started writing the books as “Twilight” fan-fiction, in case you were wondering about the connection between the two.
Dornan plays Grey, a man so traumatized that he can only experience carnal pleasure through the practice of S&M, while Johnson plays an ingénue he falls in love with and offers to take on as his submissive.
The books are raunchy to the extreme and of such low literary quality that they have often been described as “the worst” ever put on paper. Now that’s a statement that should probably make you think twice before you pick up the first book, especially if you expect breathtaking writing or character development.
The dubious quality of the source material isn’t the only thing that makes “Fifty Shades” a huge cinematic gamble: the X-rated nature of the scenes also weighs heavily in the balance. So far, we’ve heard that most of the scenes from the book will happen off screen (that is, they will be implied, will take place in the viewer’s imagination), which could prove a disappointment for fans of the books.
It could be that the reshoots have something to do with these. Or maybe the film really is that bad that they needed to add more scenes or redo others. Or maybe everything is “good” and those saying the contrary are just reading too much into this.
We’ll see on February 24.
