From casting to release date, here are all the juicy details of the It Ends With Us movie

Getting paid to kiss Blake Lively would heal me too, tbh

2 weeks ago

Coleen Hoover fans have been patiently waiting for the day the It Ends With Us movie will be on screens – and soon it will finally be here. I don’t know about you, but the book absolutely ruined me so as soon as I heard there was talk of a movie adaptation being created, I knew it would be a tear jerker. The story follows the life of Lily Bloom, a florist who moves cities and navigates complicated relationships between people she loves. But of course, it wouldn’t be a Colleen Hoover story without a few twists and turns.

Now the movie release date is finally within reach, with the film starring no other that Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni and Brandon Sklenar. Here’s a look at everything we know about the It Ends With Us movie and what Justin Baldoni and Colleen Hoover have said about the production.

The It Ends With Us movie is set to premiere on August 9th

Originally due to be released on Valentine’s Day, Colleen Hoover fans have sat patiently awaiting the release date of the movie after it’s been teased for years. And with the release date being pushed back not once but twice due to WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike action, it has finally been confirmed that the movie will be in cinemas on August 9th. Mark your diaries, people.

Justin Baldoni directed the movie whilst starring as Ryle

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A post shared by Justin Baldoni (@justinbaldoni)

Despite his long lasting legacy of being recognised as the Jane the Virgin heartthrob we all know and love, Justin actually took the reigns and directed the It Ends With Us movie, whilst also starring in it. Portraying Ryle, anyone who’s read the book will know he’s a great casting and some big part of me actually wishes I could rewrite the book’s ending after seeing Justin in the role.

Justin has actually been working on the project for nearly five years, which is a crazy amount of time when you remember the book was only released in February, 2016. He spoke to PEOPLE about his work on the film, saying it “really comes from the heart and from the depth of my soul.”

The film was also executive produced by Blake Likely, alongside Colleen Hoover, Steve Sarowitz, Andrew Calof, and Andrea Ajemian.

Colleen Hoover says she ‘messed up’ when ageing Lily, Ryle and Atlas

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The casting of Blake and Justin as the movie’s leads was previously the source of backlash. That’s because Colleen portrayed the characters in the book as a lot younger than the actors’ and actress’ real life ages. Lily is written as 23, whilst Blake is actually 36 and Ryle is meant to be 30, but Justin is (somehow) 40 years old.

Colleen told Today that the film adaptation provided an opportunity to remedy the ages she believes the characters should have been in the source material.

“Back when I wrote It Ends With Us, the new adult [genre] was very popular. You were writing college-age characters. That’s what I was contracted to do.

“I made Lily very young. I didn’t know that neurosurgeons went to school for 50 years. There’s not a 20-something neurosurgeon. As I started making this movie, I’m like, we need to age them, because I messed up. So that’s my fault.”

Blake Lively’s performance is described as ‘a dream come true’

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Recalling the moment she heard Blake would be acting as Lily, Colleen Hoover explained that she kept her cool for a while before finally allowing herself to be excited. An avid fan of Gossip Girl, she said she had been absolutely “obsessed” with her since the show was released. She explained how “seeing these characters come to life on the big screen is a dream come true.”

Justin also described Blake in all the right ways – “strong, funny and intelligent — all the things you want from female heroine.” Erm, is that not adorable?

Uh, those uncut scenes of Justin and Blake kissing on set hit so much harder after hearing Justin’s admiration for Blake.

Justin revealed that playing Ryle was incredibly emotionally taxing

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Explaining how he learnt a lot about himself, Justin said the role of Ryle was complicated: “I had to dig up a lot of stuff, and I found parts of me that I didn’t know existed.”

He said: “In some way, playing Ryle was actually very healing to me as Justin. There was parts of me as Justin that I thought that I had maybe worked on and healed that I realised I hadn’t. Getting to know this character and his depth and his love and his joy and his darkness, I was actually able to work on those parts of myself.”

Colleen Hoover admitted that the It Ends With Us movie is ‘intense’

After writing a sequel to It Ends With Us following the huge demand from readers to hear more about Lily Bloom’s life, Colleen has spoken about her emotions towards the movie and just how excited she is for readers to watch it.

“The movie experience adds another layer to the connection readers already have with the characters,” she says. “The power of visual storytelling is undeniable, and it can evoke even stronger emotions and empathy from the audience by bringing a sense of immediacy and intensity to the story. I definitely felt so much while watching the adaptation.”

The movie adaptation will also star Jenny Slate as Ryle’s sister, Allyssa, and Hasan Minhaj as Allyssa’s husband, Marshall.