| Fifty Shades Freed | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | James Foley |
| Screenplay by | Niall Leonard |
| Based on | Fifty Shades Freed byE. L. James |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | John Schwartzman |
| Edited by |
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| Music by | Danny Elfman |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 105 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $55 million[2] |
| Box office | $372 million[2] |
Fifty Shades Freed is a 2018 Americaneroticromantic drama film directed byJames Foley and written by Niall Leonard, based onE. L. James's2012 novel of the same name. Produced byPerfect World Pictures,Michael De Luca Productions, andTrigger Street Productions, and distributed byUniversal Pictures, it is the third and final installment in theFifty Shades film series, followingFifty Shades of Grey (2015) andFifty Shades Darker (2017). The film starsDakota Johnson andJamie Dornan as Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey, respectively, and follows the couple as they marry, and must deal with Ana's former boss Jack Hyde (Eric Johnson), who begins to stalk them. The film marked Foley's final directorial effort before his death in 2025.
Following the first film's premiere in February 2015, development on the sequels promptly began. By November 2015, Foley and Leonard were respectively hired to direct and write both sequels, which would be shot back-to-back in 2016.Principal photography onFifty Shades Freed began simultaneously withDarker in February 2016, inParis andVancouver, and ended in July 2016. ComposerDanny Elfman, who had scored the previous films, returned to compose the score for the final film.
Fifty Shades Freed premiered inParis on February 6, 2018, and was released in the United States byUniversal Pictures on February 9, including a limitedIMAX release. Despite being a box office success, grossing $372 million worldwide against a production budget of $55 million, it was the lowest-grossing film of the trilogy. Like its two predecessors,Fifty Shades Freed received unfavorable reviews, with criticism for its screenplay and acting.
Newlyweds Christian and Anastasia are forced to cut their honeymoon short and return home after receiving news of a break-in at Christian's corporate headquarters. Jack Hyde, Ana's former boss who was fired forsexual assault, stole some computer files.
Christian surprises Ana with a new house and has hired architect Gia Matteo to rebuild it for her. Ana is annoyed when she openlyflirts with Grey. She later threatens to fire Gia if she keeps it up, forcing her to stop.
When Christian is away on a business trip, Ana disregards his wishes that she stay at home, and meets her friend, Kate Kavanagh, for a drink. Kate is dating Christian's older brother Elliot and fears he may be having an affair with Gia, his business associate. Jack Hyde attempts to kidnap Ana when she gets home. Ana's new security team subdues him, and he is arrested.
After arguing with Christian about her night out with Kate, Ana berates him for being controlling and possessive, demanding more freedom. He later surprises her with a trip to Aspen, bringing along Kate, Elliot, Mia, and José. Elliot proposes to Kate, who accepts. It is revealed that Gia was only helping him choose the ring.
The newlyweds continue with their sexual experimentation, but it becomes complicated when Ana announces she is pregnant. Christian is disturbed, as he had other plans for their early years together. He leaves, going on a night-long drunken bender. After he returns, Ana discovers that Christian had texted and met his ex-lover, and formerBDSM dominant, Elena Lincoln, who had groomed him as a minor. Angry, she locks herself in the playroom for the night. He searches for Ana in the morning and they continue arguing, with Ana telling Christian how important the baby is to her.
Shortly after, Hyde is released on a $500,000 bond and phones Ana, demanding a ransom of $5 million in cash in two hours. He threatens to kill Mia, Christian's abducted sister, if his demands are not met. Ana must not tell anyone and bring the money alone. She takes a checkbook and revolver from Christian's desk and goes to the bank to withdraw the money.
The suspicious bank manager calls Christian. He thinks Ana is leaving him but then notices Mia's unknown whereabouts and Ana's sudden large cash withdrawal coincide with Hyde's recent release. Hyde instructs Ana to get into a car parked nearby and hand over her phone to the driver. She tricks Hyde by taking the bank manager's phone and slipping hers into the bag of money. She exits the back entrance to discover that the driver and Jack's accomplice is her co-worker, Liz.
At the drop-off site, a psychotic and vengeful Hyde attacks her, kicking her abdomen. Liz tries to stop him as Ana pulls out the revolver and shoots him in the leg. Christian and his security team, who tracked Ana's phone, arrive with the police who apprehend Hyde and Liz. Ana blacks out as she hears Christian's voice.
She wakes up three days later in the hospital with Christian at her side. Though angry at her recklessness and still anxious about fatherhood, he realizes how important their baby is to her, and they reconcile. Christian's adoptive mother, Grace, assures him that Ana will not leave him. She returns home the next day.
Christian's private investigator, Welch, has left a report showing that Christian and Hyde had shared the same foster family, though Christian seems to have no memory of this. Hyde was envious of Christian being adopted by the wealthy Grey family instead of him. Hyde also blackmailed Liz with a sex tape into being his accomplice.
Christian and Ana find out where his birth mother is buried. They visit her grave, and he lays flowers on it. Ana reflects on her whole journey with Christian and how they fell in love. Ana then goes to the red room and invites Christian to join her, where Christian delivers the dialogue "You're topping from the bottom, Mrs. Grey. But I can live with that."
The final scene is years later with Ana and Christian at their house by the lake with their son, Teddy. Ana is already pregnant with their second child.
Universal Pictures andFocus Features secured the rights to the trilogy in March 2012.[3] The films were produced byMichael De Luca Productions.[3][4] At a fan screening of the first film in New York City on February 6, 2015, directorSam Taylor-Johnson confirmed that the book sequelsFifty Shades Darker andFifty Shades Freed would also be adapted, with the first sequel then set to be released in 2016.[5] After the announcement, Taylor-Johnson toldDigital Spy that "It's not my decision [to return], and I haven't been privy to any of the discussions."[6] On November 12, 2015,TheWrap reported thatJames Foley would direct both sequels, which would be shot back-to-back in 2016, with Niall Leonard writing the script and Michael De Luca andDana Brunetti returning to produce, along withE. L. James and Marcus Viscidi.[7]Dakota Johnson andJamie Dornan were also set to return in the lead roles.[7] On February 8, 2016,Arielle Kebbel was cast in the film to play Gia Matteo, a beautiful architect who is hired by Christian to build his home,[8] and on February 12, 2016,Eric Johnson was cast as Jack Hyde, Ana's boss at SIP and stalker.[9] On February 20, 2016,Brant Daugherty signed on to play Sawyer, the personal bodyguard for Anastasia.[10]
In November 2015, Universal Studios announced thatFifty Shades Darker andFifty Shades Freed would be shotback-to-back, withprincipal photography scheduled to commence in early 2016.[11] Filming took place inParis andVancouver from February 9, 2016, to July 12, 2016, under the working title "Further Adventures of Max and Banks 2 & 3".[12][13][14] Scenes at the vacation home in Colorado were filmed atSarah McLachlan's house inWhistler, British Columbia.[15]
The lead single from the film's soundtrack, "For You", performed byRita Ora andLiam Payne, was released on January 5, 2018. The soundtrack's track list was released on January 8, 2018, including artistsJulia Michaels,Sia,Jessie J,Black Atlass,Ellie Goulding,Hailee Steinfeld,Dua Lipa,Rita Ora,Liam Payne andMiike Snow on the 22-song album.
The soundtrack debuted at #5 onBillboard 200 chart with 58,000 equivalent album units.[16]
Fifty Shades Freed was released to theatres on February 9, 2018. The film had a digital release on April 24, 2018, with a Blu-ray Disc, DVD and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release following on May 8, 2018.[17]
Fifty Shades Freed grossed $100.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $270.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $371.2 million, against a production budget of $55 million.[2]
In the United States and Canada,Fifty Shades Freed was released alongsidePeter Rabbit andThe 15:17 to Paris, and was projected to gross $37–40 million from 3,768 theaters in its opening weekend.[18] It made $5.6 million from Thursday night previews, down 2% from the $5.7 million taken in byFifty Shades Darker the previous year. It ended up making $38.6 million over the weekend, the lowest of the trilogy, but enough to take first place at the box office.[19] The film grossed $10.8 million onValentine's Day, the third-highest total for when the holiday fell on a weekday, behindThe Vow ($11.6 million in 2012) andDarker ($11 million), and bringing its five-day gross to $56.1 million.[20] In its second weekend the film only made $17.3 million, a 55.1% drop.[21]
Worldwide, the film was expected to make $80–90 million from 57 countries, including France, Germany, the UK, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and Japan, for a worldwide debut of $113–130 million in its first three days.[22] It ended up grossing $98.1 million from overseas for a global debut of $136.9 million.[23]
The film garnered largely unfavorable reviews by critics. On review aggregation websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 11%, based on 194 reviews, and an average rating of 3.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Fifty Shades Freed brings its titillating trilogy to a clumsy conclusion, making for a film franchise that adds up to a distinctly dissatisfyingménage à trois."[24] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 31 out of 100, based on 43 critics, meaning "generally unfavorable" reviews.[25] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, the same score earned byDarker, whilePostTrak reported that 56% of women (who made up 81% of the opening weekend audience) gave the film a "definite recommend".[19]
Writing forVariety, Guy Lodge was critical of the film, saying "Indeed, a sex-free, PG-13 version ofFreed could be cut without shedding a second of narrative coherence, such as it is; one could ask what the point of that would be, though similar queries might be leveled at the film as it stands."[26]Rolling Stone'sPeter Travers gave the film zero out of four, stating "With this last entry, we have officially hit the bottom of the barrel. Whips, chains, butt plugs and nipple clips are nothing compared to the sheer torture of watching this movie."[27]Robbie Collin ofThe Telegraph gave the film one out of five stars, and wrote "This is a film in which one of the more emotionally detailed performances is given by a product-placementAudi."[28]
Jeannette Catsoulis, writing forThe New York Times, found the film to be significantly inferior toKim Basinger's9½ Weeks, stating: "Layering a damp-squib thriller subplot beneath what appears to be an ad campaign for the one-percent lifestyle, the returning director and screenwriter test the newly married couple with an inconvenient pregnancy and an unconvincing car chase. There's an out-of-left-field abduction and a marital tiff over email addresses; but these narrative fragments, lazily tossed together alongside a neglected supporting cast, are no more than a flimsy causeway connecting bonking sessions."[29]
Conversely,IndieWire reviewer Manuela Lazic gave the film three out of four stars, saying "Finally, theFifty Shades phenomenon has yielded a disarming comedy that makes this ridiculous material fun to watch."[30]
| Award | Date of ceremony | Recipients | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| People's Choice Awards | November 11, 2018 | Fifty Shades Freed | Movie of 2018 | Nominated | [31] |
| Drama Movie of 2018 | Won | [31] | |||
| Jamie Dornan | Drama Movie Star of 2018 | Won | [31] | ||
| Golden Raspberry Awards | February 23, 2019 | James Foley | Worst Director | Nominated | [32] |
| Marcia Gay Harden | Worst Supporting Actress | Nominated | [32] | ||
| Niall Leonard; based from thenovel byE. L. James | Worst Screenplay | Won | [32] |