The continuing success of the 'Fifty Shades of Grey' movie franchise at the box office, notwithstanding, has received a major blow recently, as director Sam Taylor-Johnson quit the franchise and will not direct the two sequels of the hit movie based on E.L. James' novels.

Latin Post reports that recently the director issued an exclusive statement to Deadline confirming the rumors that she would be quitting the multi-million dollar movie franchise and will not be directing the sequel, 'Fifty Shades Darker.'

In her statement Taylor-Johnson explained, "Directing 'Fifty Shades of Grey' has been an intense and incredible journey for which I am hugely grateful. I have Universal to thank for that. I forged close and lasting relationships with the cast, producers and crew and most especially, with Dakota and Jamie."

She went on to add, "While I will not be returning to direct the sequels, I wish nothing but success to whosoever takes on the exciting challenges of films two and three."

Already there were speculations that Taylor-Johnson would not direct the other films of the franchise, as there were rumors regarding recurring clashes between her and the 'Fifty Shades' author E.L. James over the content of the movie.

In fact, writer Kelly Marcel also left the franchise earlier alleging James was interfering with control over the content. This has given rise to rumors that now James would be further involved in the script of the upcoming 'Fifty Shades of Darker.'

Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter stated that producer Dana Brunetti of Trigger Street Productions denied that there were any differences between Taylor-Johnson and James, saying, "People are always going to disagree"

He, however, held the media responsible for fueling the rumors.

"This got blown out of proportion because anything with 'Fifty Shades' in the headline got attention. Big whoop," he said, adding, "There are disagreements every day, every setup, every shot. The press just ran with this and blew it into a much bigger issue than it ever was."

Universal Pictures, meanwhile, has a short time to find a substitute for Taylor-Johnson, as the movie is set to be released in 2016.