Sony Pictures has set a February 9, 2024 theatrical release date for Blake Lively’s new film It Ends With Us, despite production being temporarily paused due to the ongoing WGA strike, according to Deadline.
Filming began in Hoboken, New Jersey on May 5, but by the next month the romantic flick stopped shooting and shut down the set for the unforeseeable future due in part to the presence of picket lines.
The Gossip Girl alum was last seen filming on June 9, while another Deadline report revealed that less than half the movie had been completed at the time of the stoppage.
Directed by Justin Baldoni from a screenplay by Christy Hall, the film’s story is based on the 2016 novel of the same name by New York Times best-selling author Colleen Hoover.
It was Wayfarer Studios and its founder Baldoni, who also stars opposite of Lively, who delivered the news to the crew members that they had to shut down production, according to an email obtained by the publication.
Release date: Blake Lively ‘s upcoming film It Ends With Us got an official release date of February 9, 2024 from Sony Pictures , despite production getting temporarily shut down due to WGA picket lines; the actress is seen on the set in Hoboken, New Jersey on May 18, three weeks before pause
‘Due to the ongoing WGA strike and the lost days we have experienced due to picketing, we must make the difficult decision to temporarily shut down production,’ the announcement began.
That decision to shutter the production came just days after the film was first picketed in New Jersey on June 5.
The reason behind the stoppage was due to ‘an inability to persuade the WGA that the co-financing status of Wayfarer Studios was enough to consider that the production was within WGA guidelines’.
Despite Sony Pictures being the distributer of the modestly budgeted film, there is good reason to believe the It Ends With Us production had been following those WGA guidelines by having Wayfarer Studios aboard as a co-financier.
Talks on the matter were said to be ongoing during the time production was shut down.
With the stoppage, at least 140 people were out of their jobs, many of whom were asking for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and the WGA to meet and reach a compromise.
So far there’s no official word on whether some sort of agreement had been reached that would appease the Writer Guild Of America to stop picketed the production.
Dispute ongoing: Filming for It Ends With Us began in Hoboken, New Jersey on May 5, but within a month the romantic comedy stopped shooting for the unforeseeable future due in part to the presence of picket lines; this images shows a picket line in Los Angeles
At issue: The reason behind the stoppage was due to ‘an inability to persuade the WGA that the co-financing status of Wayfarer Studios was enough to consider that the production was within WGA guidelines” the actress is seen on the set of the film before the stoppage
Premise: It Ends With Us follows recent college graduate Lily (Lively), who moves to Boston for a new start and meets a handsome neurosurgeon named Ryle (Baldoni). As their romance unfolds, things get complicated when she runs into her first love, Atlas (Brandon Sklenar)
It Ends With Us follows a recent college graduate named Lily (Lively), who moves to Boston and decides to start her own business.
After kicking off her new start, Lily meets a handsome neurosurgeon named Ryle (Baldoni), and believes she may very well have found her soul mate, despite his aversion to committed relationships.
As their romance unfolds, things get complicated when she runs into the first love of her life, Atlas (Brandon Sklenar).
Atlas’s reappearance sets off a sequence where she begins to question everything, ultimately putting her relationship with Ryle in jeopardy.
Movie adaptation: The romance film is an adaptation of a novel with the same name by the New York Times best-selling author Colleen Hoover
The cast also includes comedian Hasan Minhaj, who has been tapped to play the role of Ryle’s best friend, and Jenny Slate.
When it was announced that Lively was cast in the film, the author of the novel gushed over the leading lady on Instagram.
‘Blake Lively, y’all! She’s my dream Lily,’ Hoover gushed in the tearful video, which was shot in front of the house where she was raised.
‘And then when I first met Justin Baldoni, who is directing the film for It Ends With Us, I immediately wanted him to be Ryle,’ she continued. ‘I just thought that he had what it takes.’
