Subscribe
Follow Us
“It Ends With Us” is a box office hit making $242 million worldwide, according to Variety. The film is based on Colleen Hoover's 2016 best-selling novel of the same name which was released earlier this month.
With such a box office success including ticket sales to reach $285 to $300 million, a sequel would be a no-brainer. However, the drama between Blake Lively, who stars as the film's main character Lily, and Justin Baldoni who serves as the film's director and as one of the male leads, Ryle, a sequel is just in the cards.
A source tells Variety that because of the drama between Lively and Baldoni, there is “no world” where they will be on set together again.
“This is uncharted territory, and nobody has any idea of what a sequel could look like,” says a source. “There’s probably no world where these two will work together again.”
To make matters worse, it would be an easy film to make a sequel as there is already source material. Hoover created a sequel to “It Ends With Us” named “It Starts With Us” that ends the series.
While Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have not addressed the rumored drama between the two, videos online examining the body language between the two on set, how the costars did not attend any press interviews with one another, accusations of fat-shaming, and creative differences plagued the film's rollout.
Brandon Sklenar, who portrays Atlas in the film, spoke out in a long message on Instagram about the drama seemingly unfolding behind the scenes.
“I wanted to take a minute and address all this stuff swirling online,” Sklenar wrote via Instagram on Tuesday, August 20. “Colleen [Hoover] and the women of this cast stand for hope, perseverance, and for women choosing a better life for themselves. Vilifying the women who put so much of their heart and soul into making this film because they believe so strongly in its message seems counterproductive and detracts from what this film is about.”
He continued, “It is, in fact, the opposite of the point. What may or may not have happened behind the scenes does not and hopefully should not detract from what our intentions were in making this film. It’s been disheartening to see the amount of negativity being projected online.”
One of Blake Lively's criticisms during press interviews from fans was how “unserious” she seemed to act compared to Justin Baldoni's demeanor given the film centers around domestic violence.
The internet isn’t happy with how Blake Lively has been conducting herself in “It Ends With Us” PR, comparing her interviews to Justin Baldoni’s.
After seeing interviews side-by-side, what do you think? pic.twitter.com/CsCoQ3MI1b
— Evie Magazine (@Evie_Magazine) August 13, 2024
“Trust me when I tell you, there isn’t a single person involved in the making of this film that was not aware of the responsibility we had in making this,” he said, adding, “A responsibility to all the women who have experienced generational trauma — domestic abuse — or struggle with looking in the mirror and loving who they see,” he continued. “This movie is a harsh reality check for the men who need to get their s–t together and take responsibility for themselves and their actions.”
Sklenar made a plea to fans to look at how they speak about people on the internet and to look at what message the film is meant to convey.
“Ultimately it’s meant to spread love and awareness,” he wrote. “It is not meant to once again, make the women the ‘bad guy,’ let’s move beyond that together.”
He concluded: “All I ask is that before you spread hate on the internet, ask yourself who its helping. Ask yourself if your opinions are based in any fact. Or if you simply want to be part of something. Let’s be part of something better together. A part of a new story being written for women and all people everywhere.”
“It Ends With Us” is in theaters now.
