By Barbara Klonowska
FIFTY SHADES Darker, the film based on best-seller erotic trilogy Fifty Shades, was released in cinemas at midnight – and adult stores in Leeds say it has boosted their sales by 50 per cent.
Fifty Shades of Grey, the erotic romance novel written by British author E.L James, was the first instalment in the “Fifty Shades” trilogy, published in 2011. The second and third volumes of the trilogy, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed were published in 2012. Over 100 million copies of the trilogy had been sold by February 2014. It is a love story about a young collage graduate and very wealthy entrepreneur Christian Grey. The books are consider by many as controversial, as erotic scenes contain elements of sexual practices such as bondage, dominance/submission and BDSM. E.L James also wrote Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told By Christian. The film adaptations were released in February 2015 and 2017. The film stars Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele and Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey.
Fans of the books and films can find Fifty Shades of Grey branded sex toys in shops such as Nice ‘n’ Naughty and Simply Pleasure in Leeds.
As the second film in the Fifty Shades film series was released, the brand decided to produce the new line of products called Fifty Shades Darker.
Craig Roe, store manager of Nice ‘n’ Naughty said: “The brand is really popular and it’s really good quality.”
Official trailers of Fifty Shades Darker reached over 30 million views on YouTube.
Mr Roe said that the number of customers in his store increased by about 50 per cent since the Fifty Shades trilogy appeared on the market.
Georgia Ashwell, northern retail area manager of Simply Pleasure, said: “We found the books to be more popular than the films in our stores.”
She admits that the books had a massive impact on the customers, however the films did not influence people as much. She said that there had been some new curious customers, but not as many as there were after the books were published.
She added: “It has given a certain generation more free rein to be more open to talk about sex.”
Mr Roe said: “People are a lot more open, they are actually experiencing the products now.
“I think Fifty Shades of Grey is popular because it’s a love story, which has a dark side.”
The cinemas where you can watch Fifty Shades of Grey in Leeds include: Vue Cinemas – Leeds The Light, Everyman Leeds, Leeds Kirkstall Road, Showcase Leeds Cinema de Lux, Vue Cinemas – Leeds The Light.
WARNING: Video below contains explicit content, not suitable for under 18s. It shows Georgia Ashwell and Craig Roe talking about how the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey has opened people’s imaginations.