There’s absolutely no surprise to the news Fifty Shades of Grey stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan are looking for a pay raise to take part in the two expected sequels to 2015’s biggest box office hit yet. Fifty Shades of Grey has already made more than $528 million worldwide and the two stars were paid a mere $250,000 for the first film, obviously with the understanding success with that first film would mean more money down the line. Well, we’re now down the line…
Up next is Fifty Shades Darker and after that Fifty Shades Freed and the two are looking for compensation similar to what Jennifer Lawrence enjoyed after the success of The Hunger Games saw her pay day go from $500,000 to $10 million. Of course, Lawrence also won an Oscar in that same time frame for Silver Linings Playbook so the Fifty stars are unlikely to see such a massive bump, but a bump they should certainly expect.
Personally, Johnson deserves whatever she asks for. Not only did she manage to make that film tolerable with an unexpectedly solid performance as she spent the majority of the film naked, but she spent the majority of the film naked. That girl deserves more than whatever meager bonus she and Dornan received due to the film’s box office results. Dornan on the other hand, they could probably recast him and no one would be the wiser, but that’s more due to the story than anything else, perhaps the sequels will give him a little more to do than play a stick in the mud.
Producer Dana Brunetti tells The Hollywood Reporter he’s looking to keep costs down after the first film cost a reported $40 million. He won’t talk specifics but adds, “That was the great thing about this film — we knew we were going to be able to make stars. Now it’s their opportunity to get paid on other projects. It’s been a breakout role for both of them. I’m sure they are getting tons of offers on other things.”
Now it’s their opportunity to get paid on other projects? Ha, that’s interesting, wouldn’t the Fifty Shades sequels be considered “other projects”? Time to loosen the purse strings.
Dakota Johnson, as far as I can tell, will be just fine. She’ll be seen this weekend in Cymbeline and later this year in Black Mass opposite Johnny Depp and in A Bigger Splash for Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love). Dornan, however, I’m not so sure where his career goes from here. He definitely doesn’t seem to have the drooling fanbase the likes of Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner had during the Twilight franchise, but you never know what the future holds. I guess the fact his television show “The Fall“, co-starring Gillian Anderson, was picked up for a third and final season is a good start.
