'Fifty Shades Darker' just made a masked splash in Hollywood
Fifty Shades Darker got off to a seductive start on Thursday night.
The sequel to Fifty Shades of Grey, which begins previews in theaters Feb. 9, kicked off its steamy world premiere with an honest-to-goodness masquerade ball for fans in downtown Los Angeles, complete with appearances by Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) and Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan).
To get the party started, lace masks were handed out at the door.
The theme went over well.
And no stone was left unturned.
Then it was on to the chandelier-laden premiere held at the Ace Hotel, where stars like Johnson, Dornan, Rita Ora, Kim Basinger and Fifty Shades author E. L. James walked the appropriately black carpet.
We hit a nostalgic note with the Valentino-clad Johnson, who had a vivid memory of her very last shot of the Fifty Shades franchise (the last two installments, Darker and Freed, were shot simultaneously in 2016). "We were in Paris and we finished at sunrise in front of the Louvre," she told us. "There were no people and I ran around like a psychopath."
"Dakota and I were mucking around on bicycles," recalled Dornan, who showed off his shaggy beard and shaved head.
Inside the theater, fans cheered on the film, letting out wolf whistles during risqué sex scenes.
A pro tip for Fifty Shades fans?
Don't leave the theater until Darker's credits are done rolling.