This might be the best ‘It Ends With Us’ news we could’ve gotten
Shocking: A book adaptation probably isn’t going to get a sequel. To be fair, there is a sequel to this particular book, but I mean, is there a reason that a story about domestic violence needs a followup book/movie? I am, of course, talking about It Ends With Us.
The popular book by Colleen Hoover was adapted into the 2024 movie starring Blake Lively and directed by her co-star, Justin Baldoni. But since the movie’s release, we’ve seen an uptick in information about a supposed feud between the two popping up. It has been a lot of online back and forth, going from team Lively to Baldoni and back, and no one really has answers either way.
But the success of It Ends With Us at the box office has had people wondering if the followup book, It Starts With Us, would get its own film adaptation, as well—the issue being that Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni) is also in the second book but Baldoni is seemingly on bad terms with the rest of the production. After just 3 weeks in theaters, the film has a box office total of $242 million worldwide and is projected to take more in before it leaves cinemas.
So the issue is down to Baldoni and Lively’s feud. According to an unnamed source from a Variety piece, it seems as if their fighting is putting a hold on any sequel plans. “This is uncharted territory, and nobody has any idea of what a sequel could look like,” the source said. “There’s probably no world where these two will work together again.”
If they were to do a sequel, it would seemingly come down to Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios, which owns the rights to both books. When Hoover spoke with Variety about acquiring the rights to both It Ends With Us and It Starts With Us, she said, “I felt like he understood the book and he understood the importance of people needing to see it onscreen.”
Does this mean no adaptation for It Starts With Us?
The situation is seemingly complicated. Baldoni and Lively played two of the three main characters in the first film, and with Ryle still being a part of It Starts With Us (and Baldoni owning the rights), it would force them to work together again. But we also don’t know how much of this feud between them is real vs. what the internet projected onto the situation.
The success of It Ends With Us could force hands (it only took roughly $25 million to make), but for now, it doesn’t really seem like It Starts With Us is a priority for Baldoni or Lively. Time will tell, but honestly? It might be fine to let this story stay with just the first movie. I don’t think we really need to see another film about Ryle Kincaid being redeemed despite abusing his wife.
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