A few days before the launch of the "Fifty Shades of Grey" spin-off, Penguin Random House revealed that the manuscript had been stolen.
According to People, British police are investigating the reported theft of E.L. James' spin-off with a title "Grey." Random House reported that the copy had gone missing last Monday in Kent, England. The company immediately contacted authorities for fear that there would be leakage of the book online before its official launch on June 18.
"We can confirm that the Kent police are investigating the theft of a finished copy of E L James' new book. We cannot go into further details as it may form part of the investigation," a spokesperson told People. "It could have been in a warehouse, or traveling to a warehouse or from a warehouse. So we need establish where the theft occurred."
In a report by Variety, they stated that piracy is one of the problems that continue to "handicap" Hollywood. This means that major authors also face threats especially if their pieces are turned into major franchise.
"In an eerie coincidence, a similar situation surrounded the "Twilight" franchise - the books that inspired "Fifty Shades - in 2008. "Twilight" author Stephanie Meyer was set to release "Midnight Sun," a spinoff told from Edward Cullen's point of view, before a partial draft of the book leaked online," the magazine cited.
The book "Grey" is the fourth novel in the series. There were originally three books but E.L. James decided to release a spin-off which will explain the backstory of Christian's character. James cited that Christian has a "complex" character and fans have always been fascinated why he is the way he is.
"Christian is a complex character and readers have always been fascinated by his desires and motivations, and his troubled past," James said. "Also, as anyone who has ever been in a relationship knows, there are two sides to every story. It's been a great pleasure to return to my happy place-writing, being with Christian and Ana in their universe, and working with the fantastic team at Vintage."
James and fans can only hope that the much-anticipated novel is returned back to safe hands. Back in 2005, copies of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Price" were stolen and the thieves tried to sell them to tabloid newspapers.
E.L. James' erotic novel has sold more than 125 million copies and was able to make $500 million from its worldwide release.