When it comes to upcoming book-to-screen adaptations of popular novels like Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us, there are always going to be passionate thoughts about how Hollywood handles things. And when it comes to turning the bestselling romance book into a film, readers have not been happy about Blake Lively starring in the movie, primarily due to her and her co-star’s ages. Well, Hoover has seen the complaints and has offered her take on why she’s actually “extremely happy” about the movie.
The 2016 novel, which remains on Amazon’s bestseller list years later, along with three other Colleen Hoover books, follows a 23-year-old college graduate named Lily Bloom, who ventures out to Boston to fulfill her dreams of owning a flower shop. There she meets a neurosurgeon a few years older than her with whom she begins a relationship. Blake Lively is 35, while her co-star, Justin Baldoni, is 39. Hoover responded to the criticism, saying this:
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.
Hoover shared her thoughts on the It Ends With Us movie during a conversation at Book Bonanza at the author’s annual book festival held in Grapevine, Texas on Friday (per Today). She also said this:
As I started making this movie, I'm like, we need to age them out, because I messed up. So that's my fault.
It’s interesting that Hoover was contracted to make her book characters a specific age when she wrote the novel years ago. As she shared, it’d be very unrealistic for both leads to be in their early 20s given their occupations, especially when it comes to neurosurgeons, so she made a concerted effort with the production to age up the cast. Hoover has also received criticism regarding the contents of the book for glorifying abuse, to which she said she writes to “entertain” rather than “educate.”
Hoover also shared that she's been a fan of Blake Lively since she was on Gossip Girl, and was “blown away” about what visited the set recently. The author said that she’s not usually a crier, but she teared up “so much” while at the filming location in New Jersey last month. The movie has since paused production due to the ongoing WGA Writers Strike.
The author also reacted to some fans being upset about the outfits they have seen from set photos, to which she said were “completely out of context,” before saying she’s “not worried about it” and is really excited about the release.
Along with acting opposite Lively, Justin Baldoni is directing the It Ends With Us movie from a script by Christy Hall. Lively landed the role early this year, and debuted a new hair color amidst the news. 1923’s Brandon Sklenar is playing Atlas Corrigan, who is Lily’s first love in the novel, and Jenny Slate and Hasan Minhaj are also among the supporting cast. No release date has been announced for the Sony movie, as production remains paused.
