Blake Lively vs actor-director Justin Baldoni: It Ends With Us press tour drama explained

NEW YORK – The Blake Lively-starring romantic drama It Ends With Us revolves around a florist, and the film’s marketing campaign, including the red carpet and the posters, has been entirely floral-themed. But the press tour has hardly come up roses.

The movie – opening in Singapore cinemas on Sept 5 – is already a box-office hit, earning almost US$180 million (S$235 million) globally since its release in North America on Aug 9.

The plot centres on Lily Bloom (American actress Lively), who escapes a rough childhood, opens her dream flower store and soon meets her seemingly dream guy Ryle Kincaid, played by the film’s director, American actor Justin Baldoni.

Based on the best-selling 2016 Colleen Hoover novel of the same name, it is ultimately about breaking the cycle of domestic violence that entraps one generation after another. But the film has been at the centre of varied controversies that have raised a number of questions.

Has there been a rift between Baldoni and the cast?

Hints that things were off first surfaced at the New York and European premieres earlier in August. Although Baldoni, 40, was in attendance, he was not posing for the cameras with anyone else involved in the movie and was not participating in joint interviews. Fans speculated that this was a marketing tactic, given that he plays an abusive husband. The theory seemed to be that the distance was a statement about not romanticising the relationship between the characters played by Lively and Baldoni.

But that conjecture was discarded quickly when it emerged that Lively, 36; her husband, Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds; other cast members; and Hoover unfollowed Baldoni on social media. The interpersonal drama was fuelled by reports of conflict during the making of the film – all of it related by anonymous sources, of course.

Does the rift involve Reynolds?

Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, secured the rights to the book in 2019, and in 2023, it was announced that Lively had signed on to star. Crucially, both had executive producer roles.

That matters because interviews on the press tour suggested there were creative differences between Baldoni and Lively. When Entertainment Tonight asked Baldoni if he would direct an adaptation of the sequel, It Starts With Us, he said: “I think Blake Lively’s ready to direct. That’s what I think.”

The suspicions of differences were further fuelled by Lively’s revelation that Reynolds, 47, had a hand in the script.

On the red carpet with E! News, she said that Reynolds was very involved in It Ends With Us, despite not having any formal role, and that he was responsible for adapting a scene. “The iconic rooftop scene in this movie, my husband wrote it. Nobody knows that,” she said.

The screenwriter, Christy Hall, told People magazine that she was unaware of any rewrite, and instead thought the actors were improvising.

Additionally, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Lively commissioned a cut of the film from Shane Reid, the same editor who worked on Reynolds’ superhero hit Deadpool & Wolverine. The biggest unanswered question gripping Hollywood is whether it was Baldoni’s or Lively’s cut that ultimately got released.

Is the marketing campaign downplaying the issue of domestic violence?

Lively’s promotion of the movie has included a push for her new hair-care line, discussion of the clothes in the movie and responses to questions about abuse, which have been criticised as shallow and tone-deaf. On the official It Ends With Us movie TikTok page, she says: “Grab your friends, wear your florals and head out to see it.”

To some social media users, that seems off for a film about domestic violence and has inspired TikToks of people mocking her light approach.

Baldoni, in contrast, has emphasised the importance of raising awareness of domestic violence and providing resources for those in similar situations.

“If a Lily Bloom in real life can sit in this theatre, and make a different choice for herself than the one that was made for her, maybe she sees herself on that screen and chooses something different for herself,” Baldoni said in a red carpet interview. His company Wayfarer also partnered No More Foundation to provide resources and information about abuse. NYTIMES

It Ends With Us opens in Singapore cinemas on Sept 5.