Turmoil beneath success: Lively and Baldoni’s off‑screen rift exposed

A movie based on a hit book, an extensive promotional campaign, millions after the first weekend in theatres, and in the background... a scandal. Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni avoid each other like the plague; what they created on screen was just an act.

Author Colleen Hoover's book It Ends With Us first conquered TikTok and became a phenomenon. Nearly three million copies sold last year were the result of the hashtag #BookTok, which has already amassed over two billion views on TikTok. Platform users gather there to share videos with presentations and recommendations of interesting books.

Rights to the screenplay were quickly sold, and the film's trailer featuring Blake Lively was watched 128 million times in the first 24 hours. When the production hit theatre screens, on the first day of showing, it surpassed "Deadpool & Wolverine." With costs reaching just £23 million during the premiere weekend, "It Ends With Us" raked in as much as £45 million.

It would seem that this is a great reason to celebrate. However, it turns out that Blake Lively fell into conflict with the director and leading actor in the film, Justin Baldoni. The hot romance on the screen was just an act. In reality, the couple does not have the best relationship.

During the film's promotion, fans quickly realised that the atmosphere among the crew must be tense. First and foremost, the director did not participate in the screenings that Blake attended. It turned out that Lively does not follow Baldoni on social media.

The Hollywood Reporter learned that the rift surfaced during post-production, resulting in two different film versions. Blake even asked her husband, Ryan Reynolds, to help her take control of the production.

Baldoni made ironic remarks about Blake in interviews as if that weren't enough. When asked by journalists if he plans a sequel to "It Ends With Us," he snapped, "I think there are better people for it. I think Blake Lively is ready to be a director."

"It Ends With Us" is an adaptation of the best-selling print book of 2022 in the United States. Colleen Hoover's novel tells the story of Lily Bloom (Blake Lively), who fulfills her life's dream and opens a flower shop for people who don't like flowers. In her life, a handsome and wealthy man, a neurosurgeon, also appears. Everything goes perfectly, but only up to a point. What lies behind the seemingly perfect relationship can only be seen by Lily’s old friend, her first high school love.