The Fifty Shades of Grey screenwriter was left heartbroken by the changes the studio made to her script.
Turns out tensions weren’t just running high between Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James and adaptation director Sam Taylor-Johnson — screenwriter Kelly Marcel has now come forth to reveal her own issues with the creative process.
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In an interview on Bret Easton Ellis’ podcast (as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter), Marcel says that although initially she was given a lot of artistic freedom by Universal, ultimately, “That was utter, utter bullshit.”
“I very much wanted to do something different with the screenplay, and when I spoke to the studio and the producers and made that quite clear, they were very enthusiastic about that and loved the things I wanted to do,” Marcel recounts.
But after she’d handed in her draft, “[James] 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.'”
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While Marcel notes that it was always clear that James would have creative control over the project, she expresses sympathy for Sam Taylor-Johnson, who she appropriately says was “handcuffed” by James’ vision.
Ultimately, Marcel’s script was changed so much, she never had the heart to go see the finished product.
“My heart really was broken by that process, I really mean it,” Marcel says.
The sequel, Fifty Shades Darker, is set to be penned by E.L. James’ husband.