The sequel to the first Fifty Shades of Grey film — based on E.L. James' bestselling erotic romance — is set to hit theaters just in time for Valentine's Day next year. Fifty Shades Darker is due out Feb. 10, 2017, and the first teaser arrived in September — surprise, lots of sex! But that hasn't stopped rumors that Dakota Johnson's costar Jamie Dornan, who plays Christian Grey, is being replaced by none other than Vampire Diaries star Ian Somerhalder.
Jamie Dornan stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday night to promote the new season of his crime thriller The Fall. But Kimmel couldn't not ask about the crazy rumor, of course.
"Supposedly, I heard that Ian Somerhalder is replacing you in that. Do you know anything about that? Is that true?" Kimmel asked the Irishman.
"No, I don't know," Dornan shrugged. "That would be really hard for them to do, considering we shot both of the movies. That's an expensive mistake; I'll put it that way," he said. "But good luck to him — he'll be great!" the 34-year-old joked.
We're pleased to hear that Dornan will be reprising his sexy role in the followup movies, including Fifty Shades Freed, slated for release in February 2018. Quite frankly, we're also glad the studio is not throwing away millions of dollars to replace one devilishly handsome actor with another.