The ongoing legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni that surrounds the film It Ends With Us has been making headlines ever since Lively first filed suit for sexual harassment. Since then we’ve seen lawsuits filed, dismissed, battles over suponas and the entrie thing has become something of a legal drama all its own. If there’s one thing that that has seemingly gotten lost in the shuffle, it’s the movie that started it all.
One person who certainly has a unique relationship to everything going on is Colleen Hover. The author of the book It Ends With Us, which was the basis for the movie that starred Lively and Baldoni as a couple in an abusive relationship, recently told Today that she is still very “proud” of the movie that was made. And she complements everybody involved, even if everything that came along with it was “unfortunate,” Hoover said…
I think the actors, the director, everyone did such a good job making it that I have to look at everything else separate from the film, from the book. As unfortunate as it is, I am still just very much grateful that we got to see it come to life. And, for me, I’m very proud of that film.
The fact that It Ends With Us is now wrapped up in a bitter legal dispute does possibly tarnish the film itself, which is unfortunate. Because before It Ends With Us was making headlines for lawsuits, it was making headlines because the movie did remarkably well. In an era when any movie that isn’t designed to be a massive blockbuster is struggling at the box office, It Ends with Us was a bona fide hit. The movie made over $350 million worldwide, on an estimated budget of only $25 million.
The movie surprised a lot of people with its success. Colleen Hoover admits that she was one of those people who was “shocked” by how well the movie did. But as a result, she’s better able to separate the art from the artists, and says she’s quite proud of the movie that was made. She continued…
You know, it is, but it’s getting easier to separate it because I do look at the success of it. Like opening week, we just were all so shocked at how much readers showed up for it and how well it did and how much it resonated. I’m so proud of that movie.
The book has a sequel, and following the movie’s incredible success, there were a lot of questions about whether a sequel film could happen. Of course, under the circumstances that seems unlikely, at least under the same team that made the first movie. For now, It Ends With Us can be streamed with a Netflix subscription.
