It’s been plagued with stories of behind-the-scenes drama and tension among the cast, but It Ends With Us is going like gangbusters at the box office.
Adapted from the novel by Colleen Hoover, the emotional new romance film from director and star Justin Baldoni has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons recently.
First, fans were shocked to see its trailer sell the film as a straightforward romance between Lily Bloom (Blake Lively) and neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni), when in fact the story is anything but – featuring depictions of domestic violence and abuse.
Then rumours of animosity between the director and his cast began to circle as fans noticed a sense of tension on the red carpet.
Whatever the case may be, this hasn’t stopped the film from performing well financially, making over $100million at the global box office during its first week of release.
In doing so, it overtakes Blake’s husband Ryan Reynolds, beating out Deadpool & Wolverine to the top spot this week.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the adaptation hit a domestic tally of $ 68.9 million (£ 53 million) by Wednesday, and a foreign total of $ 46.6 million (£ 36 million).
This earned it a whopping $ 115.5 million (£ 89 million) worldwide, decimating all expectations, and overtaking the superhero sequel for the first time.
THR reports that insiders are expecting the film to continue to do well during its second week of release, estimating figures somewhere between $22-24 million.
Meanwhile, rumours of behind-the-set chaos continue to circulate, with anonymous sources telling tales of a ‘fracture’ between the cast of the film.
A number of fans have suggested that the interference of Lively’s husband, Deadpool himself, could have been partly to blame – following rumours that he wrote a pivotal scene in the movie, taking even Baldoni and his screenwriter by surprise.
It was also claimed by The Hollywood Reporter that Lively had commissioned her own cut of It Ends With Us from Shane Reid, who served as editor on Deadpool & Wolverine.
Baldoni, meanwhile, has hired PR crisis manager Melissa Nathan – most notable for representing Johnny Depp during the Amber Heard trial – only fuelling rumours that there’s more going on here than meets the eye.
Baldoni has not addressed the speculation one way or the other, and has even praised Lively’s contributions to the film, calling her a ‘dynamic creative’ and suggesting that she should direct its sequel.
Despite any and all rumours, there is no concrete evidence of a feud between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively.
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