‘It Ends With Us’: Justin Baldoni Hires Crisis PR Vet Melissa Nathan As Rumor Mill Swirls About Filmmaker/Star’s Rift With Blake Lively
It Ends With Us filmmaker and star Justin Baldoni has hired crisis PR vet Melissa Nathan of The Agency Group as rumors ramp up about the locking of horns between the pic’s star and producer Blake Lively and him.
Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios co-financed the $25M production with Sony based on the bestselling Colleen Hoover novel. The pic overindexed at the box office from a $15M projection on tracking three weeks ago to an astounding $50M opening last weekend.
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However, in the walk-up to the pic’s opening, rumors began to swirl, particularly among fans on TikTok, that there was a big fight between Baldoni and Lively. Fans pointed to myriad examples, read the duo didn’t take photos together at the Aug. 6 NYC premiere; Baldoni arrived very early and Lively later. Some observed that Lively doesn’t follow Baldoni on social.
In the film, Baldoni plays the abusive lover to Lively’s character. Sometimes actors achieve their best chemistry on-screen by ingesting the agita off screen or by going all method. Sources close to the film tell us that the duo did not get along, much in the way people who work together in a daily job, also don’t get along. There’s been chatter over Lively rolling up her sleeves, taking charge in the editing room. She was certainly a force to be reckoned with in regards to the pic’s dynamite social media marketing, not only directing the creative, but appearing in most of it as well. Reynolds apparently did punch-up on a balcony scene in the movie (though some counter those lines are also in 2016 Hoover novel). “I wish she worked for us full-time,” said one Sony insider about Lively’s fingerprints on the film.
RELATED: ‘It Ends With Us’ Movie vs. Book: All The Changes Made
However, there’s more loose lips out there about the alleged conflict between Lively and Baldoni. That said, Baldoni in a recent interview gave props to the Gossip Girl alum that she’d be a prime candidate to direct any future installments of It Ends With Us.
Some have compared the headline ire of Lively and Baldoni to that of the gossip which erupted around Don’t Worry Darling‘s opening. However, arguably, to this day, that level of black ink goes to an Nth level: there was Harry Styles spitgate at Venice, the “Miss Flo” Olivia Wilde video leaking, the director dinging Shia LaBeouf in the press, and his public retort. Arguably, in the case of It Ends With Us — we’re not even there yet.
Nathan opened the doors to The Agency Group this summer after a decade with Gotham based crisis PR guru Matthew Hiltzik; the two of them working with Johnny Depp during the Amber Heard trial.
RELATED: ‘It Ends With Us’ Director And Star Justin Baldoni Talks Choices Made To “Protect Lily’s Character”
Sony, Jonesworks PR and The Agency Group did not return request for comment.
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