Dakota Johnson's R-Rated Smash Movie Series is Now on Netflix
Dakota Johnson is trending this week after being named the new face of Calvin Klein — and it's the perfect time to revisit the franchise that made her a star. All three films in the Fifty Shades trilogy are now streaming on Netflix.
The series began in 2015 with Fifty Shades of Grey, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and based on E.L. James' bestselling novel. The film follows Anastasia Steele, a literature student whose life is upended when she meets Christian Grey, a brooding and controlling billionaire with a very specific idea of what he wants in a relationship. Johnson landed the role of Ana after a casting process that became its own saga — Charlie Hunnam was originally set to play Christian Grey before abruptly exiting the project, with Jamie Dornan stepping in just weeks before filming began.
Critics were unmoved when the film arrived, but audiences were not. Fifty Shades of Grey earned $569.7 million worldwide against a budget of just $40 million. It was Johnson's first starring role in a feature film, and it made her an overnight household name.
Tension On Set of 'Fifty Shades of Grey'
The behind-the-scenes drama was nearly as compelling as anything on screen. Johnson later revealed to Vanity Fair that the tension on set stemmed largely from creative disagreements between the cast and crew and author E.L. James, who exercised significant creative control. "We'd do the takes of the movie that Erika wanted to make, and then we would do the takes of the movie that we wanted to make," Johnson said. Director Sam Taylor-Johnson did not return for the sequels.
Fifty Shades Darker followed in 2017 under new director James Foley, with Kim Basinger joining the cast as Elena Lincoln, Grey's former dominant and business partner. The film grossed $381 million worldwide against a $55 million budget. Fifty Shades Freed closed out the trilogy in 2018 with similar numbers.
Altogether, the series grossed over $1.32 billion worldwide, making it the seventh highest-grossing R-rated franchise of all time. All three remain the highest-grossing films of both Johnson's and Dornan's careers.
All three Fifty Shades films are streaming now on Netflix.