On the eve of It Ends With Us’ release on the 2024 movie schedule, rumors started to run around that there was a feud between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. While the actress played Lily and produced the film, the actor directed and played the antagonist Ryle. Now, as speculation runs rampant about what caused this alleged feud, Baldoni has opened up about who should direct the potential sequel, It Starts With Us, and his answer, which was Blake Lively, seems right.
At the premiere for this book-to-screen adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, Baldoni was asked by ET if he’d be “willing to pull double duty again in the future." He smiled, laughed and said:
You’re going to have to ask me in a little while.
The ET interviewer then said she’d love to see him back in the director’s chair and playing Ryle in It Starts With Us – which is Colleen Hoover’s second book about Lily, and it follows her after the events of the first book and her run-in with her first-love Atlas. To that point, Baldoni said:
I think there are better people for that one. I think there are better people for that one. I think Blake Lively is ready to direct, that’s what I think.
As Blake Lively told me during CinemaBlend’s interviews for It Ends With Us while discussing the interpretation of her character’s inner monologue in the film, she had a lot of “authorship” when it came to Lily’s story. She’s also been open about having a lot of say in her character’s wardrobe, her performance as Lily has been praised, and she served as a producer on the film.
Plus, Lively’s been making moves to become a director. She helmed Taylor Swift’s music video “I Bet You Think About Me,” and it’s clear that she had a lot of say at every point during the production of It Ends With Us.
She’s also close with the books’ author, Colleen Hoover, and it seems like she would be a good fit to direct It Ends With Us’ sequel, It Starts With Us.
As I said, rumors are swirling about Lively and Baldoni having a rift over this movie. While there are no solid facts behind what caused this reported feud, rumors are going around about Lively asking Deadpool & Wolverine’s editor to cut her a new version of the movie and Ryan Reynolds getting involved in writing key scenes. Notably, the Jane the Virgin actor wasn't been pictured with anyone else from the It Ends With Us cast at the premiere, and he hasn’t been doing interviews with them.
Despite all these rumors, Baldoni has spoken highly about Lively in multiple interviews. He’s also been clear about her impact on the film, which was something he mentioned when I spoke with him.
So, I understand why he named Lively as a potential candidate to direct the sequel, and I think it’d be a fitting choice.
It Ends With Us is meeting expectations of having a successful weekend at the box office, and it will be interesting to see if the sequel gets greenlit. As we learn more about the alleged drama between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni and the potential for a follow-up film we’ll keep you posted.
