'Fifty Shades Darker' Teaser: Are You Ready?

Just yesterday, THR reported on a conversation with Universal executive Donna Langley, who revealed that the upcoming Fifty Shades of Grey sequel is “more of a thriller.” The first teaser, as promised, has arrived, and in keeping with the Fifty Shades Darker title, it definitely looks…darker? It’s certainly a little ominous.

Fifty Shades Darker won’t hit theaters until 2017 — it doesn’t have a completed script, nor has it hired a director, but Universal still managed to make a teaser for it all the same. That teaser comes attached to the Fifty Shades of Grey Blu-ray and DVD, out on May 8. The teaser asks, “Are you ready…to go darker?” Judging by the end of Fifty Shades of Grey, I’m not sure Anastasia is ready for this Eyes Wide Shut party Christian Grey looks like he’s about to attend.

Either that, or he’s become a superhero? It’s not immediately clear.

Fifty Shades Darker is being written by original trilogy author E.L. James’ husband, Niall Leonard. Langley also confirmed in that THR piece that Leonard wrote a draft for the first film, and adds, “he did a really good job.” That sounds nice, but if we learned anything from Whiplash last year, there are no two words in the English language more harmful than “good job.”

With director Sam Taylor-Johnson not returning for the sequel following reports of contention on the set of the first film, and with James claiming far more control over the remaining films in the trilogy, we’ll be curious to see which director they choose in the coming months.

Fifty Shades Darker will arrive in theaters on February 10, 2017.