It Ends with Us is a new romantic drama starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. The emphasis is on the drama with this one, as Lively and Baldoni play a couple who are bound, and subsequently torn apart by domestic abuse.
The film is based on the best-selling novel of the same name, and has been getting decent promo due to Lively's star power, but it's been overshadowed in the last few days by the behind the scenes drama between Lively and her co-star/director, Baldoni.
Justin Baldoni doesn't want to return for a sequel
Baldoni has been absent from several of the press events associated with the film. He also turned down a hypothetical offer to return for a sequel, should It Ends with Us prove to be a success at the box office (there's a sequel novel, for context).
When Entertainment Tonight popped the question regarding a second film, Justin Baldoni made his disinterest in reuniting clear. He even suggested that Lively, who produced the film, should take the reins as director next time around:
"I think that there are better people for that one. I think Blake Lively's ready to direct, that's what I think."
Harmless enough on the surface, right? Well, TikTok sleuths have dug deeper, and what they've proposed is that Baldoni's original vision for It Ends with Us was significantly tweaked by Blake Lively and her famous husband, Ryan Reynolds.
Lively allegedly took creative control from Baldoni
The TikTok user "Sofie Moon Scout" claimed that her father is an industry insider, and that he heard Lively and Reynolds wanted to use It Ends with Us as a vehicle to secure Lively's first ever Oscar nomination. The actress reportedly threatened to walk from the film if she was not given freedom to tweak the script and overall direction.
The insider went as far as to suggest that Lively and Reynolds directed new scenes for the film, but left Baldoni's name on it in the event that it underperforms with critics. Again, this is all speculatory, and none of it has been proven.
Lively has, notably, been vocal about the creative input that both she and Reynolds had on It Ends with Us. "We help each other. He works on everything I do," she told E! Live. "I work on everything he does. So his wins, his celebrations are mine and mine are his."
Whether or not the allegations of creative hijacking are true, social media seems to have thrown their support behind Baldoni, and deemed the power couple of Lively and Reynolds the villains. Hopefully we get more details on what happened, now that the film is in theaters.