Coleen Hoover’s hit book It Ends With Us is coming to the big screen, and it has now been announced that Blake Lively and Jane the Virgin’s Justin Baldoni will take on the leading roles.
Hoover took to Instagram on Thursday, to share the news and her excitement at her book being made into a movie.
In the video, she thanks her mother, who she says the book is “loosely inspired by,” revealing her mom “got us out of a scary situation when I was little and brought us here to this house,” as she walks around her childhood home.
Discussing how she feels about the casting of the main characters, Lily and Ryle, she said: “Our Lily is going to be played by Blake Lively. Blake Lively, y’all. She’s my dream Lily.”
Hoover then added about Baldoni: “When I first met Justin Baldoni, who is directing the film for It Ends with Us, I immediately wanted him to be Ryle. I just thought that he had what it takes to play that character. The good news is he’s gonna be Ryle. So we have our Ryle and our Lily.”
She added that they both “have what it takes to bring these characters to life.”
Colleen Hoover’s book, It Ends With Us, gained popularity on TikTok in 2020, and the sequel to this novel – It Starts with Us – was released in October 2022. This sequel managed to make its way onto BookTok’s top ten searches of the year.
“Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants,” the book synopsis reads. “She’s come a long way from the small town where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. And when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life seems too good to be true.”
As fans may already know, this isn’t Blake’s first rodeo when it comes to playing famous book characters. The actress shot to stardom with her role as Serena in Gossip Girl, based on Cecily von Ziegesar’s book series. And more recently, she brought Darcey Bell’s character Emily to life alongside Anna Kendrick in A Simple Favor, which was also a huge hit.
And fans are understandably thrilled to hear the news, with one writing: “How did I not know this was being made into a movie?! Oh I’m so freaking excited now!!”
While another commented: “Okay so I’m reading the book and where Lilly goes to the restaurant with her mom. I am sooooo invested in this book!! Now there is gonna be a movie with Blake Lively I am definitely going to power through!!!”
“So excited, yeahhhh. I’ve been binge watching Jane the Virgin for weeks. And I’m reading the book,” a third gushed, referencing Justin Baldoni, who plays Rafael Solano in the series.
However, not everyone agreed with the casting choice, one wrote: “While Blake is gorgeous, she does not look 23, and he is not at all who I pictured to play Ryle. Hoping that once onscreen, it’ll all come together and that those chosen to play Atlas and Alyssa are slam dunks.”
What do you think?
