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It Ends With Us Is Almost Out In Australia: Why Is Blake Lively’s Casting So Controversial?

It’s almost It Ends With Us season, for all who celebrate (!!!). Colleen Hoover‘s somewhat controversial yet wildly popular novel has been turned into a film starring Blake Lively, and it finally hits theatres this month. If you’re looking for the exact It Ends With Us release date in Australia — or just want to know why book fans are mad about the casting — then you’ve come to the right place.

It Ends With Us (the book version) was released in 2019, but didn’t take off straight away. It became really popular a couple of years later thanks to BookTok, and was the top-selling print book of 2022. The novel was optioned for a film in 2019 by Justin Boldoni (of Jane the Virgin fame) and Wayfarer, with Colleen Hoover consulting.

The romance novel is controversial for a lot of reasons, namely its portrayal of abusive relationships and Hoover’s own odd decision to make a colouring book based on it. No matter what corner of BookTok you’re on, everyone’s got an opinion on it — so perhaps it’s not surprising that it’s been so successful.

Here’s everything we know about the It Ends With Us movie so far.

Blake Lively must have had the same stylist as the movie for these press looks 👀. Image: Getty

What is It Ends With Us About?

It Ends With Us follows Lily Bloom, a 23-year-old college graduate who moves to Boston for a fresh start after her abusive father’s disastrous funeral.

Lily opens her own ~alternative florist~ in the new city, which somehow thrives. We’re talking purple and black roses in musty steampunk boots with gears on them, lol, it’s very 2010.

Lily and Ryle’s sister Allysa in her florist. Image: Jojo Whilden

It’s in Boston that Lily also meets the talented, rich and extremely hot neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid who is seven years older than her. After heaps of sexual tension, the two start a relationship.

However, things become complicated when Atlas Corrigan, Lily’s first love, also appears in Boston — resurfacing conflicted feelings for her and creating tension in her already precarious new relationship.

I won’t give the rest away, but there’s some pretty heavy themes in this novel: domestic violence, sexual assault and childhood abuse, to name a few. It’s part of the reason the novel is so controversial: some have criticised Colleen Hoover’s handling of these themes and accused her of romanticising abuse. Others, though, like that she portrays abusers as flawed people and not monsters — to them, it’s more real.

Either way, it’s a lot. So be warned, if you’re going to read/watch it.

Who is in the cast of It Ends With Us?

Gossip Girl queen Blake Lively was cast as Lily Bloom in the It Ends With Us movie.

“Our Lily is going to be played by Blake Lively. Blake Lively, y’all. She’s my dream Lily,” Colleen Hoover said in an announcement in January, 2023.

Ryle Kincaid will be played by Justin Boldoni, and Atlas Corrigan will be played by Brandon Sklenar. Jenny Slater will be playing Ryle’s sister Allysa.

In flashback scenes, Isabela Ferrer will play a younger Lily, and Alex Neustaedter will play a younger Atlas.

it-ends-with-us-cast
Isabela Ferrer and Alex Neustaedter will portray a younger Lily and Atlas. Image: Getty / Cindy Ord

The casting has raised eyebrows among some fans who feel everyone is too old for their characters — with Lively in particular facing backlash because she is 36, but Lily is meant to be 23. Boldoni is 39 when Ryle is meant to be somewhere around 29 and 30, and Sklenar is 32 when Atlas is meant to be around 26.

However, Colleen Hoover has addressed the issue and said she chose to age up the characters for the film.

“I didn’t know that neurosurgeons went to school for 50 years,” she said.

“There’s not a 20-something neurosurgeon.

“As I started making this movie, I’m like, ‘We need to age them out because I messed up.’ So that’s my fault.”

Is there a It Ends With Us trailer?

There sure is! The trailer for the hotly anticipated flick just dropped, featuring a song by Blake Lively’s bestie Taylor Swift.

Have at it:

It Ends With Us film behind the scenes

As well as a trailer, we also have a bunch of paparazzi shots from the set.

Check out our first glimpse of Lively and Boldoni as Lily and Ryle below:

And here’s a peep at Sklenar’s Atlas, too:

Image: Getty / Nancy Rivera/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

PEOPLE has also unveiled some exclusive pictures from the set of the film, which are the first official stills.

lily-ryle-it-ends-with-us
Image: Nicole Rivelli
lily-atlas-it-ends-with-us
Image: Jojo Whilden

Have Colleen Hooper or Blake Lively confirmed an It Ends With Us sequel film?

Six years after the first book, Colleen Hooper published a sequel to It Ends With Us, called It Starts With Us. And given the first book has received the big screen treatment, fans are curious to see if Blake Lively already has plans for a sequel brewing way.

However, seeing as the first movie has not come out and the studio has not been able crunch its little numbers, a sequel has not yet been confirmed.

When is the It Ends With Us release date in Australia?

According to PEOPLE, It Ends With Us will release on August 9, 2024.

It’s initial release date was actually February 9, and then this was pushed back to June 21. So now it’s been pushed back twice!

If you’re dying for something to do in the meantime, might I suggest brushing up on other great (and non-problematic) books to come out this year?

If you need me, I’ll be be binging TikTok deep-dives about the drama surrounding It Ends With Us.

The post It Ends With Us Is Almost Out In Australia: Why Is Blake Lively’s Casting So Controversial? appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .

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