EL James had Hollywood's hands tied when it came to 'Fifty Shades Darker'

When EL James thrust her Twilight fan fiction into the laps of erotically malnourished readers in 2011, she created a monster.

 But it wasn't until the reclusive author had her smash-hit Fifty Shades books adapted into films that she exposed a little monstrousness of her own.

Fifty Shades Darker, the sequel, plunges into cinemas next week, but it will be the first film in the franchise to be entirely dictated by EL James herself.

For while Fifty Shades of Grey earned surprisingly strong reviews, particularly for Sam Taylor-Johnson's directing, a hotbed of tension erupted off-screen, spurred on by an author with an incredibly specific vision for the adaptations of her books and a cast and crew powerless to stop her.

James, real name Erika, was in a sweet spot from the beginning, the rampant success of her trilogy granting her unique power when it came to selling the film rights. The sheer buzz of James's trilogy had at least 10 studios on their knees, begging the author to sign over her material.

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James executed her dominance over negotiations, informing prospective studios that she must have full veto power over the film's director and writer, its cast, marketing materials, sets and locations. She partnered with Universal Pictures and Focus Features for an undisclosed sum.

While Universal producers Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca knew they had a bountiful property at their fingertips, they also weren't stupid — what only semi-worked on the page needed a vigorous tune-up for the big screen.

Their safe word turned out to be Saving Mr Banks, or more specifically its screenwriter Kelly Marcel. She was considered the perfect writer to flesh out the novel's protagonists.

"I wanted to remove a lot of the dialogue," Marcel told the Bret Easton Ellis Podcast in 2015. "I felt it could be a really sexy film if there wasn't so much talking."

But once Marcel and James bashed themselves together, spending a week tirelessly scribbling in Marcel's London home, they rapidly came apart at the seams. James was unhappy with Marcel's alterations to the source material, and reportedly wanted more sex.

"When I delivered that script was when I realised that all of them saying, 'You can write anything you like and get crazy and artistic with it' — that was utter, utter bullshit," Marcel said. "Erika was like, 'This isn't what I want it to be, and I don't think this is the film the fans are looking for.'"

WATCH Fifty Shades Darker trailer

Meanwhile, casting for Christian Grey hit a bump. The studio's pick, Ryan Gosling, quickly passed, along with James's personal choice for the role: somewhat inevitably, Twilight's Robert Pattinson. Eventually James and the studio settled on Sons of Anarchy actor Charlie Hunnam, but he was reportedly eager to have the character reworked.

To placate Hunnam and in response to the Marcel/James falling out, studio bosses welcomed a third party into the metaphorical bedroom — playwright Patrick Marber was hired to polish off the script.

But once the new script was thrust her way, James reportedly erupted. "Nothing he has written is in my book!", she screamed, and threatened to disown the film on her Twitter account. Within days, Marber was off the project.

"[The producers] said it was wonderful. 'You've saved our asses, you're a hero.' And then I was fired," Marber told The Independent. "I felt a bit sad."

Reportedly, as a result of the drama, Hunnam tensed, sighed and pulled out of the project. Jamie Dornan came on board in his place, and a final, James-approved script rolled before the cameras.

But as shooting began, James reportedly paid daily visits to the set, micro-managing everything from set design to costumes. She also overruled much of the cast and crew when it came to the film's final line.

James reportedly paid daily visits to the set, micro-managing everything from set design to costumes. She also overruled much of the cast and crew when it came to the film's final line

When Anastasia Steele succumbs to Christian Grey's spank frenzy at the novel's climax, she utters "Stop" and flees. But Taylor-Johnson's preference was for Anastasia to whimper "Red", which is used as a "safe word" between the couple.

"It ended on a really smart note and Erika wouldn't allow it," an insider told the Hollywood Reporter. "It's just a bummer."

"[James and I] battled all the way through," Taylor-Johnson told Vanity Fair. "She'd say the same. There were sparring contests. It was definitely not an easy process, but that doesn't mean to say that it didn't come out the right way."

As pre-production geared up on Fifty Shades Darker, it became increasingly clear that James herself wished to write the screenplay. Universal, unwilling to allow a novelist with no screenwriting experience to anchor their franchise, sought a compromise: they signed up screenwriter Niall Leonard to adapt the sequel.

While his credits, among them BBC soaps Ballykissangel and Monarch of the Glen, don't exactly scream "spank me with a riding crop", Leonard's pre-existing connection to the Fifty Shades phenomenon is decidedly intimate: EL James is his wife.

As much as her novels describe Christian Grey as the tortured, spanking dominant, it'll be EL James who eternally cracks the whip. — The Daily Telegraph