Colleen Hoover’s ‘It Ends With Us’ Dominates Box Office with Successful Adaptation

Colleen Hoover’s “It Ends With Us” Shines in Box Office Adaptation

Colleen Hoover’s acclaimed novel, “It Ends With Us,” has captivated readers for years and now its movie adaptation is making waves at the box office. The film, produced by Sony Pictures with a budget of $25 million, is projected to earn at least $45 million across the United States and Canada, according to box office analysts.

Starring the talented Blake Lively, this romantic drama draws inspiration from Hoover’s most celebrated book. Originally published in 2016, the novel surged back into the spotlight during the pandemic in 2021, spending an impressive 140 weeks on the best-seller list. Thanks in part to the influence of social media platform TikTok, the book has sold over 8 million copies globally, resonating with a diverse audience.

The film’s release comes at a time when there has been a noticeable lack of content aimed at female audiences. This is a stark contrast to last summer when “Barbie” grossed an astounding $1.4 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of the year. Sony capitalized on this gap in the market with an effective social media campaign, featuring appearances from Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, and support from her friend Taylor Swift, who contributed the poignant song “My Tears Ricochet” to both the film and its trailer.

On its opening day alone, the PG-13 rated film raked in an impressive $24 million as audiences flocked to see Lively portray a florist with a tumultuous past who becomes entangled with a charming yet abusive neurosurgeon, played by Justin Baldoni, who also directed the film.

The film’s success offers a much-needed boost to the box office, which has experienced a decline of approximately 15 percent compared to this time last year. David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter on box office trends, remarked, “Pure romance is not typically a box office powerhouse, but occasionally the right story based on the right book comes along. With a well-cast female lead, this film has caught fire.”

Despite mixed reviews, with The New York Times describing the film as “fitfully diverting, at times touching, often ridiculous and, at 2 hours and 10 minutes, almost offensively long,” audience reception has been overwhelmingly positive. The Rotten Tomatoes audience score sits at an impressive 94 percent, and the exit score from tracking service CinemaScore is rated A-.

While the film is expected to fall just short of the No. 1 spot for the weekend, “Deadpool vs. Wolverine,” featuring Reynolds, continues to dominate after three weeks in theaters, on track to surpass the $500 million mark.

In contrast, the Lionsgate adaptation of the popular video game “Borderlands,” despite boasting star power from Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black, is projected to earn only in the single digits, marking a significant misfire for the $115 million sci-fi comedy directed by Eli Roth.