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For roughly two years, E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy was all the rage from young single women to grandmothers. Everyone was talking about it. People were buying the books in droves and seeing the films just as quickly as they were premiering.

In fact, Fifty Shades Of Grey is the most popular book of the last decade. It debuted just before the #MeToo movement and the attacks on women’s rights by our current Presidential administration. It has sparked vicious debates and controversies.

Despite the sheer mania surrounding the series, James is still grappling with the popularity of the franchise. In fact, she never even considered Fifty Shades to be a BDSM book.

‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ was massively controversial and successful

Since the first book debuted back in 2011, the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy has sold more than 150 million copies worldwide. For years, it was a much-talked-about success. However, despite the phenomenon surrounding the books, critics panned James’ writing.

They also took issue with the blurry lines of consent between the main characters Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele. The films were no better. The acting and the narrative were lambasted though all three films collectively grossed more than $1 billion worldwide.

All of this has not stopped James from continuing to pursue her dreams.

E.L. James is just getting started in Hollywood

Following the massive success of Fifty Shades of Grey, James penned another best-selling book. Her 2019 romance The Mister follows wealthy British aristocrat, Maxim Trevelyan. Forced to take on major responsibilities after a family tragedy, Maxim finds himself enamored with his Albanian housekeeper, Alessia Demach.

Absolutely enraptured with Alessia’s beauty and musical talent, Maxim never guesses the secrets she’s hiding or the things she’s running from. Now, we’re going to see James’ The Minster come to life on the big screen as we did with Fifty Shades.

According to Variety, Universal Pictures has won the rights to the book. It was also the same studio that delivered the Fifty Shades trilogy on-screen. Amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, there is no word yet on when the movie will debut, who will direct, or who has been cast, but we’re sure we’ll know soon enough.

E.L. James is still shocked ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ is so popular

Though she is now worth upward of $58 million because of Fifty Shades according to the LA Times, James is still absolutely shocked that the series became so popular across the globe. In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, she revealed,

Well, there are thousands and thousands of women writing in this genre, so it’s not as if anyone who is writing and reading in [this genre], it’s what they are used to. It’s just because Fifty went so mainstream, for reasons that still mystify me. Then, I think there’s so much attention given to this. But there’s plenty of books out there with steaminess.

From the timing to word of mouth and even the success of Twilight, it appears that James simply hit a lightning rod of magic.

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