It ends with us Filmmaker and star Justin Baldoni has hired PR expert Melissa Nathan of The Agency Group as rumors of a dispute between the film’s star and producer Blake Lively and himself are growing louder.
Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios co-financed the $25 million production, based on the best-selling novel by Colleen Hoover, with Sony. The film surpassed box office numbers from a $15 million forecast three weeks ago to an astonishing $50 million opening last weekend.
However, in the run-up to the film’s premiere, rumors began to circulate, especially among fans on TikTok, that there was a major falling out between Baldoni and Lively. Fans cited countless examples, reading that the duo didn’t take any photos together at the August 6 premiere in New York; Baldoni arrived very early and Lively later. Some noted that Lively doesn’t follow Baldoni on social media. In the film, Baldoni plays the abusive lover of Lively’s character. Sometimes actors achieve their best on-screen chemistry by soaking up the excitement off-camera or by going all out. Sources close to the film tell us that the duo didn’t get along, just as people who work together on a day job don’t get along. There were rumors that Lively rolled up her sleeves and took charge in the editing room. She was certainly a force to be reckoned with in terms of the film’s explosive social media marketing, as she not only took creative direction but also acted in most of it. Reynolds apparently did a fight in a balcony scene in the film (although some believe those lines also appear in Hoover’s 2016 novel). “I wish she worked for us full-time,” a Sony insider said of Lively’s fingerprints in the film.
However, there are more open words about the alleged conflict between Lively and Baldoni. However, in a recent interview, Baldoni praised the gossip Girl Alumna that she is a top candidate to direct future parts of It ends with us.
Some have compared Lively and Baldoni’s anger in the headlines to the gossip that surrounded Don’t worry, darling‘s opening. But to this day, this amount of black money has probably not been fully exhausted: There was Harry Styles’ speculation in Venice, Olivia Wilde’s “Miss Flo” video, the director’s press criticism of Shia LaBeouf and his public response. In the case of It ends with us – we’re not even there yet.
Nathan opened the doors to The Agency Group this summer after a decade of working with Gotham-based crisis PR guru Matthew Hiltzik; the two had worked with Johnny Depp during the Amber Heard trial.
Sony, Jonesworks PR and The Agency Group did not respond to requests for comment.
