By every possible metric, It Ends With Us is a smash hit.
A big screen adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s wildly popular book, the movie has earned $242 million across the globe.
Ticket sales are projected to reach at least $285 million to $300 million, which is an astounding figure for a film that doesn’t rely on special effects or an especially huge budget.
It seems unlikely Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni will share the screen ever again. (Sony Pictures Releasing / courtesy Everett Collection)
So… there’s undoubtedly going to be a sequel, right?
Especially when one considers that Hoover penned her own follow-up titled It Starts With Us, meaning there’s source material already ready to go?
Not to fast, people.
As you very well might have heard about, stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni almost definitely clashed on screen and off while shooting It Ends With Us.
Blake Lively attends the “It Ends With Us” UK Gala Screening at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on August 8, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Sony Pictures)
According to some reports, Lively (who served as a producer) and Baldoni (who directed the movie) disagreed on the final cut of the film — with Lively eventually winning out in the end.
According to other reports, Baldoni actually body-shamed his co-lead, who gave birth to a child not long before filming got underway.
We can’t verify any of the rumors swirling around this actress and actor.
But Baldoni wasn’t photographed with Lively (or anyone else associated with the movie) during any red carpet premieres of It Ends With Us; nor did the pair sit down for any interviews together.
It’s very clear the pair do not get along.
Justin Baldoni attends the “It Ends With Us” New York Premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on August 6, 2024 in New York City. ((Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
Hence the concern about a second movie in this burgeoning franchise
“This is uncharted territory, and nobody has any idea of what a sequel could look like,” a source tells Variety of Lively and Baldoni. “There’s probably no world where these two will work together again.”
Neither Baldoni nor Lively has addressed any of this feud speculation in public; heck, the former has even said the latter should direct any potential sequel.
However, this often-reliable outlet writes that “bad blood between the two is very real and the relationship may not be salvageable.”
Blake Lively attends the “It Ends With Us” New York Premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on August 6, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
It Ends With Us was top-selling print novel of 2022 and 2023.
Prior to the film’s release, Baldoni told Variety — when asked about It Starts With Us — that he and production studio haven’t “even begun to think that far ahead. I’m trying to stay in the present as much as I can.”
Lively, who has been blasted for some of her comments in relation to domestic abuse and the role it plays in this movie, would be needed for any sequel because her character of Lily plays a critical role in the story.
Baldoni’s Ryle? Not so much.
However, Baldoni holds the rights to both of Hoover’s novels and “is the sole party who can determine [the sequel’s] fate,” according to Variety sources familiar with terms of his contract.
It Ends With Us Sequel: Will It Happen in Wake of Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni Feud?!? was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.