Blake Lively (
"Gossip Girl",
"A Simple Favor") and
Justin Baldoni (
"Jane The Virgin") have signed on to star in the upcoming adaptation of
Colleen Hoover"s best-selling novel
"It Ends With Us". The film is being developed by Wayfarer Studios and Sony Pictures, and Baldoni is also set to direct from a script by
Christy Hall (
"I Am Not Okay with This").
The story follows a girl named Lily who has just moved and is ready to start her life after college. Lily then meets a guy named Ryle and she falls for him. As she is developing feelings for Ryle, Atlas, her first love, reappears and challenges the relationship between Lily and Ryle.
The novel was optioned in 2019 by Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, who have been working with Hoover, who is consulting on the film. Released in 2016, the book became a "BookTok" phenomenon in 2021, with more than two billion views on its TikTok hashtag. Its popularity has made Hoover the best-selling novelist in the United States, with more than 20 million books sold. She also wrote six of 2022's top 10 best-sellers.
Baldoni will also executive produce the film through his Wayfarer Studios banner, alongside his partner,
Andrew Calof. Lively, Hoover and
Steve Sarowitz will also serve as EPs on the project, with
Alex Saks producing for Saks Picture Company, along with Wayfarer's
Jamey Heath.
Lively is also set to reprise her role in
Paul Feig's upcoming
"A Simple Favor" sequel alongside
Anna Kendrick. She will make her feature directorial debut with the adaptation of the
Bryan Lee O'Malley graphic novel
"Seconds", written and produced by
Edgar Wright.