Sam Taylor-Johnson’s foray into the world of softcore erotica is over: the British film-maker will not return for the upcoming sequel to global blockbuster Fifty Shades of Grey, Variety has confirmed.

Taylor-Johnson had been widely expected to spurn the chance to direct Fifty Shades Darker, based on the second of three novels by British author EL James about kinky billionaire Christian Grey and his student paramour Anastasia Steele. The fledgling director, whose only previous feature film was the well-received 2009 biopic Nowhere Boy about the early life of John Lennon, clashed with James on set over the film’s tone and use of dialogue.

“It was difficult, I’m not going to lie,” she told Porter magazine in January. “We definitely fought, but they were creative fights and we would resolve them. We would have proper on-set ‘barneys’, and I’m not confrontational, but it was about finding a way between the two of us, satisfying her vision of what she’d written as well as my need to visualise this person on screen. But, you know, we got there.”.

A key flashpoint was said to be the refusal of James, who reportedly had final say over the movie’s dialogue, to tolerate changes by award-winning playwright Patrick Marber, who had been brought in to add colour to Kelly Marcel’s script. The author reportedly also stepped in to “spice up” sex scenes in line with the direction of her original tome. Marcel is another film-maker who will not be returning for the sequel, Variety reports, with James said to be determined to write the new screenplay herself.

Studio Universal hopes to bring Fifty Shades Darker to the big screen in 2017, with Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson returning in the leads. The first film has so far made a staggering $558m worldwide, a record figure for an erotic romance, despite lukewarm reviews.

In other Fifty Shades of Grey news, Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke has revealed she turned down the chance to star in the film for fear she would be required to appear nude on screen. “I’d done nudity before and was concerned with being labeled for doing it again,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. Clarke, who has signed on to play Sarah Connor in the new Terminator film, Genysis, said she had “no regrets,” about her decision.

