Aug 28, 2024 08:57 AM IST
Kulleen Hoover’s 2022 bestseller and the sequel to her 2016 book, It Starts With Us, picks up a few months after the first part ends.
The drama surrounding the rift between It Ends With Us co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni might carry over into the film’s sequel. The first part has grossed over $200 million globally, so it’s no surprise that the producers would be keen to begin working on the sequel right now. However, the rumours of a rift between Justin and Blake, who is not only an actor but also a co-producer of the film, are refusing to die down, according to a report Diversity report. (Also Read – It Ends With Us: Blake Lively’s botany lesson is a masterclass in breaking the cycle of abuse)
Obstacles to the sequel
A sequel to It Ends With Us already exists in the form of Kulleen Hoover’s 2022 bestseller It Starts With Us, a direct sequel to her 2016 book on which Blake and Justin’s film is based. It takes place a few months after the first part ends. Although Justin’s character Ryle has a relatively small part in the sequel, his production house Wayfarer Studios owns the rights to both books.
Justin, who directed the first part, is set to step back from directing the sequel as well. He told Entertainment Tonight at the film’s premiere, “I think there are better people for it. I think Blake Lively is ready to direct.” Even if Blake does direct (he previously directed BFF Taylor Swift’s 2022 music video I Bet You Think About Me), he would have to negotiate with Justin as the lead producer, who holds the rights to the book adaptations.
About the crack
Rumours of a rift between them started surfacing when the two did not promote the film together. They were not even seen together at the premiere. According to the report, Blake had the film edited, which was different from Justin’s edit, which eventually made it into the final cut. She is also reportedly telling people that Justin fat-shamed her and kissed her for too long in an intimate scene. Variety’s report also states that Blake’s actor-husband Ryan Reynolds also wrote a crucial scene in the film, which discredited Justin. The report quoted a source as saying, “This is uncharted territory, and no one has any idea what a sequel could look like. There is hardly any world where these two would work together again.”
