'It Ends With Us' sequel in trouble over Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni rift: Report

The drama around the rift between It Ends With Us co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni may just spill into the film's sequel.

After the first part earned over $200 million globally, it's no surprise that the producers must be raring to start working on the sequel already. However, the rumoured rift between Justin and Blake, who aren't only actors but also co-producers on the film, refuses to die down, as per a Variety report.

The story for the sequel to It Ends With Us is already there in the form of Coolleen Hoover's 2022 bestseller It Starts With Us, the direct sequel to her 2016 book on which Blake and Justin's film is based. It's set a few months after where the first part ends. While Justin's character Ryle has a relatively smaller part in the sequel, his production house Wayfarer Studios owns the rights of both the books.

Justin, who helmed the first part, is also willing to step back from direction in the sequel. He told Entertainment Tonight at the film's premiere, "I think there are better people for that. I think Blake Lively's ready to direct." Even if Blake directs (she's previously directed BFF Taylor Swift's 2022 music video I Bet You Think About Me), she'll have to negotiate with Justin in his capacity as the leading producer, who owns the rights to the book adaptations.

Rumours of their rift began surfacing when the two didn't promote the film together. They weren't clicked together at the premiere either. Reportedly, Blake commissioned an edit of the film, which was different from that of Justin, which eventually made it as the final cut. She's also been reportedly telling people that Justin fat-shamed her and kissed her for too long in an intimate scene.

The Variety report also states that Blake's actor-husband Ryan Reynolds also wrote a key scene of the film, thus undermining Justin's credit. "This is uncharted territory, and nobody has any idea of what a sequel could look like. There's probably no world where these two will work together again," the report quotes a source as saying.