Bringing ‘It Ends With Us‘ from page to screen wasn’t just another Hollywood project. The team behind the movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s hit romantic drama knew they had to tread carefully. After all, the story isn’t just any love tale—it’s based on Hoover’s parents’ real-life relationship. The stakes were high, and so were the expectations of fans who adore the book.
Screenwriter-producer Christy Hall knew she had to do justice not just for the fans, but also for Hoover. To ensure the adaptation stayed true to the book, Hall and director-star Justin Baldoni took an unconventional approach: they brought the fans directly into the process.
Fan Inputs For ‘It Ends With Us’ Proved To Be The Secret Ingredient To Success
Christy Hall, who wrote and produced the film, recently confessed to Entertainment Weekly that she “lost sleep” over the responsibility of adapting such a beloved story while working on ‘It Ends With Us‘.
In a move that’s pretty rare for Hollywood, Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios reached out to fans early in the scriptwriting process. They posted on Instagram and Twitter, asking who wanted to be involved in an early read of the script. Hall explained that Wayfarer Studios had an open application where LA-based fans could apply, explaining why they loved the book and why they should be part of the process.
“They hand selected, I think there were 20 megafans that had to sign an NDA and came in,” Hall said. These fans were given hard copies of the script, and after reading it, they all sat down for lunch and a three-hour roundtable discussion with Hall, Baldoni, and Hoover herself. Hall described the experience as “remarkable,” as the fans provided direct feedback on what they liked, what they missed, and what could be improved.
One change that sparked curiosity among the fans was the renaming of Atlas’ restaurant from Bib’s (Better in Boston) to Root. Hall explained her decision was to tie the name more thematically to the story. “It was fun to test things like, ‘Is that going to massively bum you out?’” Hall said, adding that the fans weren’t upset, just curious.
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Fans Insisted They Wanted The Phrase “It Ends With Us” In The Film
Despite the interesting experiment, not all changes that the fans suggested went over smoothly. At a crucial point in the story, Lily, played by Blake Lively, says the title ‘It Ends With Us‘ out loud. In her initial draft, Hall had cut this line, replacing it with, “It stops here, between you and me.” She explained, “As a screenwriter, a big no-no is you don’t want any character to ever say the title of the film.” But this didn’t sit well with the fans.
“The entire room of 20 megafans were like, ‘You have to say it!’” Hall remembered. She defended her decision, saying, “Typically you don’t say the [title],” but the fans weren’t budging. “It doesn’t matter. In this movie, she has to,” they insisted.
Hall eventually gave in, realizing that the fans were right. “It actually is now my favorite moment in the film,” she admitted. “It’s so honest, it’s so real, it’s so raw. I find [Blake Lively’s] performance to be really profound, so I am grateful that it’s in there, and as it should be.”
The inclusion of this line wouldn’t have happened without the passionate feedback from the fans. “That was a really funny moment because sometimes they’d be split on things, but that one was a resounding, 100 percent out of 100 percent were like, ‘How dare you?!’” Hall said with a laugh. The fans didn’t let her “get away with it for one second.”
After the roundtable, Hall received the most important endorsement of all: from Colleen Hoover and her mother, whose story inspired the book. “Colleen brought her mother, which was incredible because her mom’s story sparked the whole thing,” Hall shared. “Getting to meet her was such an honor and a privilege,” she said.
‘It Ends With Us‘ opens in theaters on August 9.
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