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‘It Ends With Us’ Sequel With Blake Lively Possible, but It Will ‘Be Hard to Remove’ Justin Baldoni
Blake Lively is dealing with a career crisis in the wake of her alleged feud with It Ends With Us costar Justin Baldoni, but a sequel to the romantic drama is not out of the question.
If a sequel does get made for the film, which is based off author Colleen Hoover‘s bestselling novel of the same name, “it’s going to be hard to remove Justin from that project because he continues to hold some underlying film rights to the franchise,” a source exclusively tells In Touch.
Not only did Justin, 40, star in the film opposite Blake, 37, he also directed. Plus, Colleen’s follow-up novel, It Starts With Us, was also a huge success.
However, the source says that the drama between Blake and Justin began long before the film’s August 6 premiere in New York City.
“Last year, when the film shut down for the SAG-AFTRA strike after only a few days of shooting, Blake seriously considered bailing on the project altogether — and not because the movie was facing a months-long delay,” the insider reveals.
“In other words, Blake and Justin’s relationship soured very early in shooting,” the source continues. “Ultimately, Blake’s team, led by Colleen Hoover, convinced her to stick with the film, and she has been rewarded with both the biggest hit of her career and the biggest PR disaster of her life as well.”
The drama began after the Gossip Girl alum didn’t pose with her It Ends With Us costar and director at the film’s New York City premiere. Blake also didn’t do any press interviews alongside the Jane the Virgin actor.
The actress then gushed about how husband Ryan Reynolds rewrote a pivotal scene in the movie where Blake’s Lily meets Justin’s Ryle for the first time. “The iconic rooftop scene, my husband actually wrote it. Nobody knows that, but you now,” she told E! News on the NYC red carpet.
Blake added, “We help each other. He works on everything I do. I work on everything he does. So, his wins, his celebrations are mine and mine are his.”
The movie’s screenwriter, Christy Hall, told People on August 8 that she was unaware of the script changes by Ryan, 47.
Justin also hinted that he doesn’t want to direct a potential sequel and appeared to make a dig at his costar. “I think there are better people for that one,” he told Entertainment Tonight at the film’s NYC premiere. “I think Blake Lively’s ready to direct. That’s what I think.”
The actor also alluded to tension on set. “There are all these things that happen every day on set, there’s always friction that happens when you make a movie like this,” he said in an interview with Elle U.K. “Then at the end of the day, it’s that friction, I believe, that creates the beautiful art. Everything in life needs friction to grow.”
Only time will tell what will happen with the hit franchise. “It’s going to be interesting to see what happens on the sequel front in the coming months, because It Ends With Us is already highly popular and profitable and will become even more-so when it lands on Netflix in the coming months,” says the In Touch source.
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