Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us is headed to the big screen, with Blake Lively set to star, Deadline reports.
Lively, known for her roles in the series Gossip Girl and films including The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and A Simple Favor, will headline the adaptation along with Justin Baldoni (Jane the Virgin).
Hoover’s novel, published in 2016 by Atria, tells the story of a businesswoman who falls for a neurosurgeon, but soon learns that he’s abusive. A critic for Kirkus gave the novel a starred review, writing, “Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.”
The novel became a TikTok phenomenon in 2021, vaulting it to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. Hoover published a sequel to the novel, It Starts With Us, last year; it sold more than 800,000 copies through its first day on sale.
The film adaptation will be directed by Baldoni and written by Christy Hall, the I Am Not Okay With This co-creator who is also writing the screenplay for an upcoming movie based on Liane Moriarty’s The Husband’s Secret. Lively, Baldoni, and Hoover are among the executive producers of It Ends With Us.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
