Everything we know about It Ends With Us

Controversial author Colleen Hoover is often discussed heavily on TikTok, specifically the subsection known as "BookTok," and you might have seen some conflicting opinions about her first officially book-to-screen adaptation, It Ends With Us. The film, which stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, was originally slated for a February 2024 release, then pushed to June, but now has been set as August 9, 2024.

Since Sony movies are contracted to stream on Netflix a few months after they make their theatrical debut, we're covering everything fans need to know about It Ends With Us, which should be on Netflix sometime by the end of 2024, probably December, potentially January 2025.

What is It Ends With Us about?

Despite being billed as a romance, It Ends With Us is more of a drama with some romance spread throughout, but the central relationship is actually pretty far from romantic. In fact, the entire book is about how a young woman realizes she's in abusive relationship, the same as her parents. Growing up, Lily's mom was abused by her father and her mother kept it secret, leading Lily to resent both of her parents. Soon, Lily starts recognizing similar abusive patterns in her new boyfriend Ryle.

That said, we don't know very much about the movie just yet so it's possible the film could go in a different direction, but I'm assuming the overall plot will stay the same. There is also a sequel novel titled It Starts With Us that could be adapted depending on the success of the first movie.

It Ends With Us cast

As mentioned above, Blake Lively has been cast in the leading role of Lily Bloom. You might have seen some of the pictures of Lively on set circulating online as many fans have shared strong opinions concerning her costumes for the movie.

However, Hoover has defended the outfits, telling Today that she really doesn't care what they're wearing since, in her head, "it's about the conversation they're having and the story. It's the same way in the movie." Furthermore, she says the photos that fans have seen online are out of context, so who knows, maybe those outfits will make more sense when we see the movie.

Additionally, Lively and Baldoni's casting raised some eyebrows because in the book, they're described as being much younger. Lily, in particularly, is supposed to be in her early 20s compared to Lively's 36. But Hoover told Today she is the one responsible for aging up the characters as its actually something she wanted to correct from the novel.

"Back when I wrote 'It Ends With Us,' the new adult (genre) was very popular. You were writing college-age characters. That's what I was contracted to do. I made Lily very young. I didn't now that neurosurgeons went to school for 50 years. There's not a 20-something neurosurgeon."

Overall, Hoover is very happy with Lively's casting, saying she's been a fan of the actress since her Gossip Girl days.

In addition to starring as the film's male lead, Ryle Kincaid, Baldoni also directs. Here's the cast who has been announced for It Ends With Us so far.

• Blake Lively as Lily Bloom
• Justin Baldoni as Ryle Kincaid
• Brandon Sklenar as Atlas Corrigan
• Jenny Slate as Allysa
• Hasan Minhaj as Marshall

It Ends With Us releases in theaters on June 21, 2024 and will likely stream on Netflix before the year is over.