Fifty Shades of Darker is not set to be released in theaters, anytime soon as the film is rumored to be going through delays. Moreover, E.L. James  hinted the possible retention of director James Foley and writer Niall Leonard through to the final film.

As reported by Yibada, producer Dana Brunetti revealed that the sequel still has a couple of things that needs to be done before they can move forward with filming, and also added that they currently do not have a casting director on board.

Moreover, new speculations about the film also suggest that the film's male lead, Jamie Dornan could also be part of the delay as he reportedly asked for time off from filming while he and  his wife Amelia Warner wait for the arrival of their second child. According to Latino's Health, the filming delay for the sequel, and other rumors about the changes and creative differences in the film's crew have caused dwindling in the fans' interest.

James Foley is taking over the directorial position from Sam Taylor-Johnson, while E.L. James' husband, Niall Leonard is set to write the film's script, and according to Movie News Guide, Foley and Leonard could be retained  in their creative posts in the franchise until its last instalment.

According to the trade, this speculation was galvanised by James' recent post in her Instagram account where she posted a photo of herself along with Foley and Leonard with the caption "#FSD #FSF with James Foley @foleyfilm and Niall Leonard @noghar". The two hashtags in the photo are believed to be acronyms for the two final books in the franchise, 'Fifty Shades Darker' and 'Fifty Shades Freed' which she also used in her previous post in the abovementioned social media platform.

Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan are set to return for Fifty Shades Darker along with Rita Ora, Max Martini, Luke Grimes, Eloise Mumford, and Victor Rasuk. It will be produced by Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, and E.L. James. It is currently slated to hit theaters in February 10, 2017.