Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have signed on to star in the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover‘s bestselling novel It Ends With Us. The film is in development with Wayfarer Studios and Sony Pictures, and Baldoni is also set to direct. Christy Hall will adapt the script.
The narrative revolves around a girl named Lily who has just moved and is ready to start her life after college. Lily then meets a guy named Ryle and falls for him. But as she is developing feelings for Ryle, Atlas, her first love, reappears and challenges the relationship between Lily and Ryle.
Hoover currently is the best-selling novelist in the U.S. with over 20 million books sold after It Ends With Us became a phenomenon online. She wrote five of the 10 bestselling print books of any genre in 2022. Published in 43 languages, It Ends With Us was the top-selling print book of 2022, and has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for over 90 weeks.
Despite the recent success, the novel was actually optioned back in 2019 by Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios. They have been working with Hoover, who is consulting on the film.
Lively’s last film was 2020’s The Rhythm Section, though she’s currently working on the sequel to A Simple Favor, which will see co-star Anna Kendrick and director Paul Feig return. She’s currently working on her feature directorial debut, an adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley‘s graphic novel Seconds, which will be written and produced by Edgar Wright.
Baldoni previously directed romantic drama Five Feet Apart and romantic musical drama Clouds. As an actor, he’s best known for his main role on Jane The Virgin. He also hosts the Webby-nominated podcast The Man Enough Podcast, which investigates the nuances of masculinity.
It’s early days for details regarding the production of It Ends With Us, but expect the eventual film to be a pretty big deal, as many of the book’s fans will no doubt want to see how the adaptation turns out.
#Peace.Love.ItEndsWithUs
