Summary
- Female audiences drive big box office numbers for film adaptations of popular books like
It Ends With Us
. - The drama between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni behind the scenes is overshadowing the film’s release.
- Speculation surrounds power struggles, potential editing changes, and rifts among the cast of
It Ends With Us
.
As a seasoned film critic with over two decades of experience in the industry, I’ve seen my fair share of behind-the-scenes drama. The ongoing saga surrounding the production and promotion of “It Ends With Us” seems to be a classic case of creative differences and power plays, with Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, as well as director Elgin James Baldoni, each holding their ground.
Over the course of the upcoming weekend, it might come as a shock to those who haven’t read Colleen Hoover’s acclaimed novel “It Ends With Us,” that the film is projected to have an impressive opening at the box office. Predictions suggest that the movie could earn as much as $50 million during its debut, which is a significant amount for any film. This underscores the power of women who flock to movies adapted from books they adore.
Apart from its influence, it’s crucial not to undervalue the impact of online investigation. In the case of “It Ends With Us,” this film might have made a significant impact on the female audience at the box office. However, there seems to be some tension brewing off-screen, primarily between Blake Lively, the lead actress, and Justin Baldoni, the director and co-star. This discord has extended to other cast members, as they seem to take sides – either with Lively or Baldoni. What started as harmless internet chatter is now appearing more credible as the film’s release approaches, with those involved in the production speaking openly about it during interviews.
It Ends With Us Is Somewhat Controversial
Hoover’s novel, published in 2016, is quite substantial in size, falling under the genre of romance but with an intriguing, if somewhat controversial, perspective that has added to its allure. By 2019, it had sold over a million copies globally, but its popularity experienced a significant boost in 2021 due to TikTok. As more people discovered the book, it reclaimed top spots on charts in 2022 and 2023. Themes of love, trauma, and abuse within the novel have struck a chord with readers, eliciting a range of reactions, from positive to negative.
Initially, Justin Baldoni recognized the potential for the book he had acquired in 2019 to shine on the silver screen. In 2023, Blake Lively was chosen as Lily Bloom, the main character, and Baldoni himself took up the director’s role. Ryle Kincaid, a man who develops a relationship with Lily and triggers her past traumas with her parents, was played by an unspecified actor. Notably, in addition to acting, Lively also joined as a producer for the film, boosting her influence over the project. However, things took a turn when it came time to market the movie.
Justin Baldoni Has Done Virtually No Press With the Rest of the Cast
As a devoted movie enthusiast, I’ve been keeping a sharp eye on the ongoing press tour for “It Ends With Us.” Strangely enough, I haven’t seen Dania Ramirez’s co-star, Nick Baldoni, making any appearances with the main cast members like Brandon Sklenar, Jenny Slate, Amy Morton, and Kevin McKidd. Instead, it seems that Dania has been tirelessly promoting the film, participating in interviews with her fellow actors (excluding Nick), and even gracing some of the bigger platforms alone to spread the word about this movie.
Other actors seem to be avoiding interviews with Baldoni, and his involvement in the film he directed and acted in appears limited to a few solo interviews or virtually none at all. This became particularly noticeable during the film’s debut, where Baldoni attended with his wife and companions but declined to participate in group photo opportunities with the rest of the cast.
The remaining players enthusiastically snapped photos together, seemingly relishing their time together. To complicate things further, Hugh Jackman – a close pal of Lively and her Deadpool co-star Ryan Reynolds – was also seen taking pictures with Lively and the cast. It’s worth noting that Jackman isn’t featured in the movie, so the fact that he appeared to be spending more time with Lively and the cast rather than Baldoni wasn’t lost on observers.
High school-style camaraderie seems to be missing among the cast as they don’t follow Baldoni on social media. The reasons behind this divide remain speculative, but there are some plausible theories. One possibility is that this tension started during the press tour or even while filming. A significant rooftop scene between Lively and Baldoni was penned by Ryan Reynolds, as claimed by Lively.
In my perspective, it appears that some speculate Baldoni might have had reservations due to Lively and Reynolds using their influence in Hollywood to involve him in a film he was directing. Both of them are renowned for collaborating on each other’s projects, as she has openly discussed her role in the Deadpool films, and this scene from her movie is an example.
A buzzing gossip circulates that Lively leveraged her role as a producer to exert more control over the final edit of the film alongside Reynolds, particularly after they perceived it as a potential platform for Lively’s Academy Award nomination. This supposed move reportedly strained the relationship between Lively and the director, and the situation worsened when Lively and Reynolds allegedly asserted their influence during post-production, despite Baldoni’s initial cut apparently performing better in tests. As per TheInSneider’s report, they accomplished this by cultivating a rapport with Hoover, who is the book’s author and has been publicly supportive of Lively during the film’s promotional tour. If these claims are accurate, it’s not surprising that external parties meddling with a project you care deeply about can create conflict.
Ryan Reynolds Has Taken Over the Press Tour With His Wife, Blake Lively
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A possible rephrasing could be:
Over the past three weeks, Deadpool and Wolverine have been dominating the box office, keeping Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively in the limelight during this latest press tour. It seems like their celebrity status is overlapping and potentially overshadowing the film’s intended message, which is to initiate discussions about trauma and domestic violence.
Fans have commented that Lively’s conversations about the movie seem less in-depth. They’ve noted that it’s questionable that her spouse is involved, while Baldoni has consistently focused on the topic of domestic violence. Remarkably, when discussing the venture, the director and actor never deviated from addressing this issue, which suggests why this project could have been a deeply personal endeavor for him.
An alternate perspective might be that there could be issues with Baldoni, leading to the cast’s decision to unfollow him on social media. It’s puzzling why they didn’t take photos together at the premiere or do interviews together, suggesting a possible rift. Perhaps some incident prompted the entire group to publicly distance themselves from him. During an interview at the film premiere, Jenny Slate, who plays Allysa in the movie, was asked about working with Baldoni as both an actor and director. Her response seemed evasive, almost as if she was trying hard to find something positive to say or was deliberately avoiding the question altogether.
At the premiere, where both Baldoni and his co-host Liz Plank from the podcast “Man Enough” were present, it’s worth noting that they didn’t take photos together or appear in each other’s Instagram posts or stories. This is intriguing because they are reportedly friends and haven’t released a new episode of their show since mid-June. While they might be engrossed in separate projects, this situation seems to stoke the rumors of a disagreement between them.
To Baldoni’s advantage, he has exclusively commended Lively’s acting in the movie during his media interviews and hasn’t uttered a single negative comment about her. Interestingly enough, Lively hasn’t said much about Baldoni at all, despite his significant on-screen and off-screen contributions to the film. In today’s world, with the anticipation surrounding the release of ‘Don’t Worry Darling’, it’s not hard to imagine speculation that this could be a clever publicity tactic.
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2024-08-10 00:31