After being available to rent on Prime Video and ZEE5 (OTTplay Premium), It Ends with Us is set for a full-fledged OTT release for all subscribers. Indeed, Justin Baldoni's film, starring Blake Lively, will make its Netflix debut on November 9, 2024. Christy Hall wrote the screenplay, which is based on Colleen Hoover's 2016 novel. The film also stars Hasan Minhaj, Jenny Slate, and Brandon Sklenar in pivotal roles.

It Ends with Us plot summary

It Ends with Us, the first film adaptation of a Colleen Hoover novel, follows the inspiring journey of Lily Bloom (Blake Lively), a woman who, after overcoming a horrific upbringing, starts anew in Boston and pursues her ambition of starting her own business. As Lily and the attractive neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni) become madly in love, she starts to perceive aspects of Ryle that bring back memories of her parents' relationship. Atlas Corrigan's (Brandon Sklenar) unexpected return forces Lily to reevaluate her connection with Ryle and forces her to face an unthinkable decision about her future; she learns to depend on her own strength in the face of this challenge.

Despite the conflicting reactions of critics, the release of It Ends with Us in August 2024 proved to be a financial success, earning $349.2 million globally on a budget of $25 million.

Post production dispute

After a week of reshoots and Lively's request for a second cut of the film from editor Shane Reid, sources informed The Hollywood Reporter of an apparent dispute between Baldoni and Lively during post-production. Reid has worked with Lively before on projects such as Ryan Reynolds's Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) and live-directed music videos for artists like Taylor Swift, including I Bet You Think About Me.

According to reports, Oona Flaherty and Robb Sullivan were responsible for the theatrical cut, which was supposedly Lively's favourite. Furthermore, the magazine verified that Reynolds penned "a large chunk" of the dialogue for a balcony scene, purportedly in April 2023 prior to the WGA strike, without informing Baldoni of this.

Videos highlighting Baldoni's absence from joint press appearances stoked speculation about the purported split on platforms like TikTok, where the book had enormous popularity within the "BookTok" subcommunity. 

Baldoni brought on a public relations crisis manager in August 2024. Although they would not articulate any legitimate transgressions from either party, sources told Variety that the bad blood between the two is very real, and the relationship may not be salvageable.

Blake Lively's promotion criticised

During her film promotional tour, Lively faced criticism from some social media users for displaying a "light-hearted humorous" attitude and failing to directly address her character's experience of domestic violence and abuse. Some viewers felt that Lively was disrespectful to the film's themes of domestic violence because she encouraged attendees to wear floral attire while on the press tour and promoted her new haircare line and beverage company.

However, after the film's release, Baldoni hinted at the possibility of adapting the sequel novel It Starts with Us for the big screen. Nonetheless, he implied that Lively should direct the film instead of him and later said that he would not return in that capacity. Baldoni's Wayfarer Studios acquired the rights to both It Starts with Us and It Ends with Us in 2019.

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