It Ends With Us was a huge commercial success when it came out in August 2024. The adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel grossed $349.7 million at the box office, a huge win for a film with a $25 million budget. However, the legal issues between the two co-stars, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, who also produced and directed the film, vastly overshadow the film’s achievements.
On Jan. 16, Justin Baldoni filed a $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. The actor-director accused the Hollywood power couple of extorsion and defamation, as well as trying to take over the film. Per People, in the lawsuit, Baldoni also claimed Blake Lively never read the book It Ends With Us before filming.
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Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit consists of 179 pages, and also features his publicist Jennifer Abel, crisis publicist Melissa Nathan, and producer and Wayfarer Studios CEO Jamey Heath. The lawsuit alleges Lively made “wrongheaded creative decisions” that “reflected her fundamental lack of understanding of the book the film was based on.”
“This came as no surprise to her worried colleagues, given that, even well into production, Lively had not even read the book,” the lawsuit alleged. There is also a text message between Baldoni and Heath where they mention that the creative team read and re-read Hoover’s novel and “combined scenes to heighten the stakes” for Baldoni’s character, Ryle Kincaid, who is the male protagonist and the antagonist, further “utilizing humor and his desire to sleep with” Lively’s character, Lily Bloom.
“While I understand Blake’s reasons for not wanting to read the book, the book does a very good job of getting in Lily’s mind during her interactions with Ryle and setting up the WHY behind her attraction to him, which ultimately helps us understand why she stays in the end,” the text message included in the lawsuit reads.
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Many great actors admitted to not reading the source novel when working on a project. The late Michael Gambon, who played Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films since 2004’s Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban, took a different approach to the roles. Viggo Mortensen played Aragorn, and he admitted to never reading The Lord of the Rings. However, things are different with big franchises with extensive works like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings.
It Ends With Us was a big passion project for Baldoni, who optioned the book in 2019, and its sequel, It Starts With Us. However, Lively didn’t need to read the original novel to do a good job. Based on the film’s reviews, the audience mostly enjoyed the film, which boasts a Verified Hot badge and an 89% approval score. The critics weren’t sold by the film, giving it a “rotten” 55 score.
Per the new filing, Baldoni claims the Gossip Girl star “was not content merely to headline one of the year’s biggest movies,” the plaintiffs allege. “Instead, apparently driven by overweening ambition and a need for control, Lively eventually leveraged her power as a wealthy celebrity to wrest the reins from her costar and the film’s director, Baldoni.”
The lawsuit alleges Lively “insist(ed) on total control over every aspect of the film she could get her hands on, from wardrobe to marketing strategy to music, even creating her own cut of the film,” claiming that her “power play cost numerous people their jobs.”
Justin Baldoni Further Claims Lively Told Him to Get Plastic Surgery
In her initial filing with the California Civil Rights Department ahead of Christmas, Lively’s 80-page lawsuit claims Baldoni sexually harassed her on set and that he fat-shamed her. The actress alleged the director asked her personal trainer how much she weighed. His $250 million lawsuit against The New York Times replies to her allegations, claiming that Baldoni did approach her fitness trainer because of a scene where he had to lift her and, given his issues with his back, wanted to prepare for it safely. Lively joined It Ends With Us in January 2023, a month before she had her fourth child, Olin, so her weight was a sensitive subject.
However, in his new lawsuit, Baldoni also claims Lively joked that he “should get plastic surgery” because of his nose, People reports. The lawsuit alleges Lively “began to joke about Baldoni’s nose, which he laughed off and joked in turn, even as Lively joked that he should get plastic surgery,” while the actors filmed a “romance montage” of their characters, Lily and Ryle, on a date.
Source: People
- Director
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Justin Baldoni
- Release Date
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August 9, 2024
- Cast
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Blake Lively
, Justin Baldoni
, Brandon Sklenar
, Jenny Slate
, Hasan Minhaj
, Amy Morton
, Kevin McKidd
, Isabela Ferrer
, Alex Neustaedter
, Robert Clohessy
, Robyn Lively
, Megan Robinson
, Robin S. Walker
, Emily Baldoni
, Adam Mondschein
, Caroline Siegrist
, Steve Monroe
, Daphne Zelle - Writers
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Christy Hall
, Colleen Hoover - Studio(s)
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Columbia Pictures
, Wayfarer Studios
, Saks Picture Company
