It Ends With Us is still making a killing at the box office despite the drama between stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.
The Hollywood Reporter revealed on Thursday, August 15, that the film — adapted from the Colleen Hoover book of the same name — made over $100 million at the global box office during its first week in theaters. After making a domestic total of $68.9 million and foreign total of $46.6 million, It Ends With Us has reached a global total of $115.5 million thus far, the publication reported.
News of the film’s success comes as rumors and reports about what went down between Lively, 36, and Baldoni, 40, when the cameras weren’t rolling. Baldoni, who got the rights to film back in 2019, directed It Ends With Us and starred as Ryle Kincaid, a neurosurgeon with a dark past. Lively, a producer on the film, starred as protagonist Lily Bloom, who finds herself in an abusive relationship with Ryle.
While the actors had more than their fair share of chemistry onscreen, that was not the case behind-the-scenes.
“There were two camps on the film — team Blake and team Justin,” a source told Us Weekly exclusively earlier this week. “This creative struggle set the tone for the negative experience behind the scenes and grew into them not speaking anymore.”
Allegations of editing differences and body-shaming have been at the root of the It Ends With Us controversy since before the movie hit theaters on August 9. The production company responsible for the film, Wayfarer Studios, was cofounded by Baldoni, meaning, crew members and extras reported to him on set. However, he felt “hurt and sidelined” buy Lively who allegedly made decisions regarding the script and wardrobe “often without consulting Justin or his team.”
The source told Us that Baldoni “was made to feel that his vision wasn’t as important as Blake’s.” They added: “It stifled the creativity on set.”
The same source noted that “creative differences” between Baldoni and Lively “had been building up since day one” of the movie. Despite the apparent ongoing issues, “the version [of the film] in theaters is one that everyone is happy with,” the insider said.
A second source insisted that Lively’s “changes” were made “to create the best film possible and honor the book.”
Hoover’s novel, published in February 2016, is based on her parents’ abusive relationship, which she’s spoken about at length over the years.
“Blake was a producer and worked closely with Colleen and other female team members on set,” the second insider added. “Without [Justin’s] input does not mean [she went] behind his back.”
