It may have been “Deadpool & Wolverine” dominating the conversation for the last few weeks, but this year’s late summer surprise is unquestionably “It Ends With Us.” Directed by Justin Baldoni and starring Blake Lively, the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel of the same name had a monster $50 million opening weekend, breaking a 34-year-old box office record in the process. For a movie with a $25 million budget, it’s an instant hit. In Hollywood, that almost always means a sequel. That certainly seems to be in the cards in this case, although it now appear that Lively has her sights set on the director’s chair for the potential follow-up.
A recent report from People offered a rundown of the situation. While we won’t get into it too deeply here, “It Ends With Us” is rumored to have been plagued with drama behind the scenes, particularly between Baldoni and the cast. According to the article, a source close to Baldoni attributed it to “creative differences” that were said to be “overblown.” Now here comes the interesting part. That same source apparently claimed that Lively “wants to direct the next movie, sidelining him and securing the rights from Colleen.” However, there has not been a discussion yet of a second movie. “Yet” is most certainly the key word there.
Baldoni previously told Variety his production company Wayfarer Studios has the option to adapt Hoover’s sequel novel “It Starts With Us.” While no official discussions have happened at Sony as of yet, that seems inevitable at this point given how well the first film is performing. What’s more, the studio will likely want to get the ball rolling as soon as possible, meaning it’ll need to untangle all of this drama sooner rather than later.
Is it time for Blake Lively to take the director’s chair?
With “It Ends With Us” also doing very well overseas, it’ll be at $100 million in no time, cementing its place as the surprise breakout of the summer (much in the same way that “Where the Crawdads Sing” surprised us in 2022, only it seems that this is going to be an even bigger hit). Setting the drama aside for a second, that might make this the perfect time for Lively to make her feature directorial debut. As for “It Starts With Us,” the novel was published in 2022 and also became a best-seller. Its synopsis reads as follows:
Lily and her ex-husband, Ryle, have just settled into a civil coparenting rhythm when she suddenly bumps into her first love, Atlas, again. After nearly two years separated, she is elated that for once, time is on their side, and she immediately says yes when Atlas asks her on a date. But her excitement is quickly hampered by the knowledge that, though they are no longer married, Ryle is still very much a part of her life — and Atlas Corrigan is the one man he will hate being in his ex-wife and daughter’s life.
Lively has been a mainstay as an actor for years. To date, she’s only directed a music video for Taylor Swift’s “I Bet You Think About Me,” but we are talking about the biggest pop star in the world. Lively is already familiar with these characters and this universe. If she ever wanted to make the jump to directing, this seems logical. It’s not unlike how Michael B. Jordan took the reins on “Creed III” last year.
It’s also difficult to imagine Lively coming back if Baldoni is in the director’s chair again, assuming the drama is even half true. From Sony’s perspective, going with Lively would seem to make more sense, assuming it can get the rights sorted out. We’ll see how this all shakes out in the coming weeks/months.
“It Ends With Us” is in theaters now.
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