Fifty Shades is a British-American film trilogy series based on the Fifty Shades trilogy by English author E. L. James. It is distributed by Universal Studios, and stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan as the lead roles Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey, respectively. Sam Taylor-Johnson directed the first film,[2][3] and James Foley directed the second and third films.[4] The first film, Fifty Shades of Grey, was released on February 13, 2015, while the second, Fifty Shades Darker, was released on February 10, 2017.[5] Fifty Shades Freed, the third film, was released on February 9, 2018.[5] Although the films were poorly received critically, the series grossed over $1.32 billion worldwide, making it the sixth highest-grossing R-rated franchise of all-time.