By Payton Buschhorn
#1 New York Times Bestselling Author Colleen Hoover announced Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni to play Lily Bloom and Ryle Kincaid in the up-and-coming It Ends With Us film on Jan. 27 through her Instagram.
The film will be an adaptation of the novel It Ends With Us, which was released on Aug. 2, 2016. After blowing up on TikTok, the novel has been on the New York Times Best Sellers list in the Paperback Trade Fiction category for 91 weeks.
The novel tells the story of a recent college graduate, Lily Bloom, who has just moved to Boston where she meets a neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid.
While progressing through their relationship, Lily looks back on her past, and Atlas Corrigan, Lily’s first love, comes back into her life.
With the reintroduction of Atlas into Lily’s life, issues in her relationship with Ryle begin to develop.
“I think that Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively have what it takes to bring these characters to life,” Hoover said on Instagram.
Lively has made her name in the film industry with some of her roles, including Serena van der Woodsen in the CW’s Gossip Girl and Nancy Adams in the 2016 film The Shallows.
“She’s my dream Lily,” said Hoover on TikTok.
While Baldoni played Rafael Solano in the CW’s Jane the Virgin, he has also produced films such as Clouds and Five Feet Apart.
“- when I first met Justin Baldoni, who is directing the film for It Ends With Us, I immediately wanted him to be Ryle,” said Hoover.
Atlas and Allysa, two other important characters in the novel, have yet to have castings announced for them.
There have been mixed reactions about the actors following the casting announcement by Hoover.
Skylar Ravettine, a UT sophomore, said she was surprised by the casting choices.
“I had pictured different people for these roles,” said Ravettine. “I think that they will do a great job, but I was definitely expecting someone else.”
In the comments of Hoover’s Instagram video, some had said their opinions about the choice of actors.
Comments were made comparing Lily’s age, 23 at the start of the novel, to Lively’s age, 35. Some found it a poor decision due to the age gap and the fact that Bloom is a redhead in the novel and Lively is not.
Emma Andersen, a UT sophomore, said that she was a bit disappointed with the casting.
“I was hoping they would cast a red head for Lily so it would be more like the book,” said Andersen. “I think that Blake is a great actress, but I don’t think she’s necessarily the right fit for Lily. For Justin, I think he could be a great Ryle, but I haven’t seen him in anything to know if he’s a good fit.”On July 25, 2019, Baldoni took to Instagram to announce that he would be directing the film for It Ends With Us, however, a release date has yet to be announced for the movie.
