It Ends With Us, directed by Justin Baldoni and starring Blake Lively, seems highly unlikely to meet it’s February 2024 release date.
With the SAG-AFTRA strike finally over, it looks like Justin Baldoni’s adaptation of the beloved novel, It Ends With Us, could finally go back into production. No word yet on when the movie will resume filming, but it’s been on hold since May, as the film’s shooting was disrupted by strike WGA workers, a situation not helped when actors went on strike two months later. While the movie now has the green light to start again, it may not be so easy, as the movie will have to juggle the schedules of its highly in demand actors. Blake Lively is rumoured to be acting opposite Anna Kendrick in a sequel to A Simple Favor, but one of this film’s stars, Brandon Sklenar, will likely be due back on the set of the Yellowstone prequel 1923. Paramount Plus is no doubt eager to start shooting the second second of the highly rated spin-off.
Less than half of the movie was complete before the difficult decision to cease production arrived on Thursday. It seems highly unlikely it’ll meet the February 9th, 2024 release date it’s still pencilled in for. According to Deadline, The reason for the cancelation “was an inability to persuade the WGA that the co-financing status of Wayfarer Studios was enough to consider that the production was within WGA guidelines, even though the film will be a negative pickup for signatory Sony Pictures.”
It Ends With Us was filming in New Jersey when producers called for a temporary hold on production while trying to negotiate with the WGA. Unfortunately, the WGA denied the request to resume production, resulting in the film’s loss of roughly 140 jobs.
“Due to the ongoing WGA strike and the lost days we have experienced due to picketing, we must make the difficult decision to temporarily shut down production,” Wayfarer and Baldoni wrote in an e-mail on Monday. “We want to express our deepest gratitude for your incredible patience and unwavering dedication throughout this challenging period.”
Some told Deadline that the strike led to a bit on tension on set.
“It was a mixture — people were upset because they liked working with Justin,” a crewmember said in light of the shutdown. “There was already tension about some ADs who’d been fired. People were sad but also respected the WGA picket situation. The more solitarily we can have with the WGA, making the producers talk to the writers and get them back to the negotiating table, the faster everyone will get back to work.”
It Ends With Us is an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestseller, which Christy Hall adapted. The plot revolves around a young woman going through the tumultuous stages of an abusive relationship. After moving to Boston after college, she decides to start her own business as a florist, only to fall in love with a young neurosurgeon. Baldoni stars alongside Brandon Sklenar, Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj, and Steve Monroe as cast members.
With both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike over, It Ends With Us should hopefully resume production shortly.