It Ends With Us almost looked very different!
When rumors of the feud started over the summer, we heard about how creative differences between co-stars Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively resulted in a lot of tension — and two different versions of the film. The story coming out months ago was that Blake took over the movie with the help of her husband, Ryan Reynolds, so that her cut ended up being the one we all saw in theaters. You know just a Hollywood couple throwing their power around kind of thing!
Related: Justin Baldoni’s Former Agency Is Siding With Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds!
Well, it’s not just rumors! Justin claimed in a libel lawsuit against The New York Times that’s exactly what happened! Blake allegedly “embarked on a hostile takeover of the production, strong-arming Sony into blessing her with ultimate control.” In the complaint, the director/star claimed that two different edits of It Ends With Us came out during production — one done by him and the other commissioned by Blake. She allegedly removed the editors working on the film and replaced them with others, including one close to the Deadpool actor.
She allegedly threatened to boycott promoting the movie amid a disagreement over which cut to release, so Sony Pictures decided to test the “two competing versions” with focus groups. According to Justin, his version tested “significantly higher” than Blake’s. However, Blake said Colleen Hoover, the author of the book, would side with the actress if her version wasn’t chosen. Ultimately, the Green Lantern star won. Her cut is what everyone saw in the theaters. Blake also “made certain that Baldoni was removed from all artwork for the film (posters included) and stripped him of his ‘A Film By’ credit,” per his suit. As Justin put it in a text to his publicist Jennifer Abel, he was essentially “kicked out” of the film — despite being the director. Oof.
Blake’s version of the movie went on to be a major success, even becoming the highest-grossing project in her career so far. So you have to wonder: Would Justin’s version have done just as well? Better or worse? We may never know! However, it sounds like his version of It Ends With Us would have been a lot different from Blake’s!
In her sexual harassment complaint, she claimed Justin added and improvised several scenes that weren’t in the original approved script — some of which were “graphic.” Blake alleged he even included a “detailed scene” in which “the underage version of Ms. Lively’s character, Lily, loses her virginity,” adding:
“In both the book and the script for the film, there was no sex scene; instead, the details about this moment were left to the audience’s imagination. But Mr. Baldoni, added in considerable details, including both dialogue between Young Lily and her boyfriend (Atlas) about the loss of her virginity, as well as a simulated sex scene in which Mr. Baldoni filmed, and included in his initial cut of the film, a close up of Young Lily’s face, accompanied by an audible gasp at the moment of penetration.”
When Blake found out about this scene, she was allegedly told that “after Mr. Baldoni called ‘cut,’ he walked over to the actors and said, ‘I know I’m not supposed to say this, but that was hot,’ and, ‘did you two practice this before?’” So inappropriate. Also, she claimed Justin “personally added graphic content, including a scene in which Ms. Lively was to orgasm on-camera.” However, Blake refused. The complaint stated:
“When Ms. Lively objected to these additions, Mr. Baldoni insisted he had added them because he was making the film ‘through the female gaze.’”
Although Justin later agreed to remove the scenes, the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants alum claimed he “made a last-ditch attempt to keep one in which the couple orgasm together on their wedding night, which he said was important to him because he and his partner climax simultaneously during intercourse.” The doc continued:
“Mr. Baldoni then intrusively asked Ms. Lively whether she and her husband climax simultaneously during intercourse, which Ms. Lively found invasive and refused to discuss.”
From what it sounds like, there would have been a lot more sex scenes in Justin’s version! Wow! We wonder what else ended up on the chopping block from his cut… And will his edit ever see the light of day? We aren’t too sure about that.
Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments!
[Image via Sony Pictures Entertainment/YouTube]
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