For anyone who doesn’t keep up with recent popular literature, Colleen Hoover is currently one of the best-selling authors in the market, particularly since a viewership surge in 2022 turned her into a BookTok sensation along with her landmark novelIt Ends With Us. The movie was optioned for film back in 2019, and since then, details on the production have been kept largely under wraps. However, per a report fromCollider, Hoover took to her TikTok and made the official casting announcement for the film’s two lead stars.Blake Lively(Age of Adaline) joins the cast as Lily, andJustin Baldoni(Jane the Virgin) will fill the role of Ryle.
As she reveals in her video post above, Hoover first provides some on-site background information about her bookIt Ends With Us, standing outside the actual, now-empty house she grew up in with her mother throughout most of her childhood. She’s noted that the book is not only the hardest one she’s ever written but is also based loosely on her mother, who rescued them out of a “scary situation” when she was young and moved them into that house behind her, creating a “space of love and joy” that changed their lives. After reflecting on the impact of her most significant work becoming a film, Hoover shifts gears and goes into the announcement of the film’s two lead actors. She cites Blake Lively as her “dream Lily” and John Baldoni as a very good fit for Ryle. Baldoni is set to direct the production, while Hoover will serve as a consultant. Hoover concludes the video with her excitement for the adaptation, and her 1.3 million followers no doubt share the same sentiment.
The premise ofIt Ends With Usrevolves around a young woman named Lily who has just moved from Maine to Boston to start her life after college. She perseveres through all the struggles life throws her way, no matter how difficult, and eventually meets a man named Ryle, whom she develops feelings for. She quickly realizes that Ryle, a neurosurgeon and otherwise too good to be true, is hesitant of any relationships, making the quest to win his heart a true challenge. However, with time she starts to break through his barriers and gets to know him. Unfortunately, just as things begin to take a hopeful turn, Lily’s ex-boyfriend Atlas Corrigan makes an abrupt appearance, threatening her budding relationship with Ryle.
The film is currently in development with Wayfarer Studios and Sony Pictures. No release date has been set yet.
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The Online Phenomenon of Colleen Hoover
It Ends With Uswas first published in 2016 and gained immense popularity in the years to come courtesy of TikTok’s booming literature subcommunity nicknamed “BookTok.” PerDeadline, with over 2 billion views on her profile and to date over 20 million books sold, Hoover became a unique phenomenon and is now the best-selling novelist in the U.S. She wrote five of the 10 best-selling print books of any genre in 2022, andIt Ends With Ushas since been published in 43 languages, with 90 weeks spent at the top of the New York Times Best Seller List. In addition, a sequel to the groundbreaking romance novel titledIt Starts With Uswas published in 2022.
