“It Ends With Us”: The Biggest Changes Between Colleen Hoover's Book and the Blake Lively Movie
Colleen Hoover's best-selling book is finally on the big screen, and so begins the age-old debate over how the movie adapts the original story
It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover; Nicole Rivelli
'It Ends With Us' by Colleen Hoover; Blake Lively as Lily Bloom in 'It Ends With Us'One of the most-anticipated romance novel adaptations has finally premiered on the big screen, and it's time to find out how Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni brought Colleen Hoover's bestselling novel to life.
It Ends with Us premiered in theaters on Aug. 9, telling the story of Lily Bloom (Lively) as she's caught in a love story with two very different men — handsome neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni) and her first love-turned-renowned chef, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar).
As with any book-to-screen adaptation, fans of the BookTok reigning favorite had their concerns about how Hoover's beloved story would take shape onscreen, but Lively has been assuring fans that the film delivers on everything they want.
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"If you read the book first, I really genuinely believe — and I don't normally promise this — but I believe that you'll love this movie," the actress, 36, said during a June conversation at Hoover's romance book festival, Book Bonanza. "And then if you see the movie first and then you read the book, you'll love the book. And I think that that's the goal of it, and I hope that we can accomplish that."
At the New York City premiere of the film, Hoover echoed that sentiment, telling PEOPLE, "I think they did such a good job" as she elaborated on the reasons behind a few changes.
"The challenge with this [story] was you have the young versions of the two main characters and the older versions of three main characters, so you've got a lot of storylines you're packing in there," she continued. "So I think we just had to kind of pick and choose what to throw in."
While we're willing to take the author and Lively's word for it, there were some changes Baldoni — who also directed the film — had to make in order to bring the story to the screen.
Read on to find out how the It Ends with Us movie differs from Hoover's book – but fair warning, there are spoilers ahead.
Jojo Whilden
The beginning — and Lily and Ryle's ages
While the book begins with Lily on the roof of Ryle's building, sitting on the ledge and reflecting on her dad's funeral earlier that day, the movie starts a little bit differently, as a means of setting up the age difference, since both Lily and Ryle's characters are older in the film than in the book.
In the first scene, she drives up to her childhood home and greets her emotional mother Jenny (Amy Morton) and the pair discuss preparations for her father's funeral. Her mother makes a comment about Lily moving to Boston and changing jobs, setting the scene for her to open her flower shop, Lily Bloom's, pretty much right away. The movie also shows the funeral scene and Lily's eulogy — in all its awkward silence.
Screenwriter Christy Hall tells PEOPLE that she suggested playing out the funeral scene — and Lily choking up during the eulogy — during her first meeting with Hoover, and that adding that scene and aging the characters up were among the first changes that they agreed on early in the adaptation process.
Lily and Ryle's first kiss
The sexual tension between Lily and Ryle builds up for a bit longer in the book than it does in the movie. Lily really makes Ryle wait for it, as he tries to convince her that just a one-night stand will get her out of his system enough to help him move on.
He pushes quite hard – going so far as to arrive at her apartment one night straight from the ER begging her to sleep with him, only to fall asleep in her bed. They finally kiss for the first time at Allysa's birthday party, but that's as far as they go that first night.
In the movie, the first time they're reunited after their chance meeting on the roof, they spend the day together with Allysa (Jenny Slate) and Marshall (Hasan Minhaj) singing karaoke and going bowling. Before the night's over, Ryle convinces Lily he just needs to kiss her one time to get over her. So they do! But, of course, that one kiss only leaves him wanting more. He then sends her flowers and they finally seal the deal at Allysa's birthday party.
Hall is aware that the build-up between Lily and Ryle was shortened onscreen, and says she's "gutted" but it was just one thing they "had to truncate" in order to tell the whole story.
The name of Atlas' restaurant
In the book, Atlas opens a restaurant in Boston called Bib’s, which he revealed stood for “Better in Boston” — something he and Lily used to say to each other when they were younger. The meaning behind the name was revealed when he won a local business award and was interviewed in the newspaper. Ryle saw the interview, connected the name to the magnet Lily had on their fridge and then read her journals. His anger at Atlas naming the restaurant after a special memory with Lily prompted his final attack, which ultimately caused the couple's breakup.
In the film, Atlas’ restaurant is called Root. Hoover told E! News that the change was a result of not having “as much time” onscreen to develop every conversation. Root, which Hover said also goes “back to a conversation [Atlas and Lily] had as kids in the film," is shown when Lily teaches Atlas about her garden, and tells him that the roots are the most important part of the plant.
Lily's journals
Teenage Lily was an avid fan of Ellen DeGeneres and a dedicated viewer of her talk show — so much so that she wrote letters addressed to the comedian in a series of journals she kept throughout her younger years. In the book, the tumultuous love story that developed between Lily and Atlas in their youth was documented through the letters Lily wrote to Ellen. When she fled her and Ryle's apartment after their worst fight, she wrote one final letter to Ellen in the hours after learning she was pregnant with Ryle's baby.
DeGeneres plays less of a role in the movie. There's one flashback scene of young Lily (Isabela Ferrer) and Atlas (Alex Neustaedter) sitting on the couch watching the show together, and one brief clip shows Lily writing a letter to Ellen in a journal. We don't see the series of journals containing letters addressed to Degeneres that chronicle her life — letters that, in the book, eventually expose Ryle to the full story of Lily and Atlas' relationship.
Rather, the movie's flashback scenes paint the picture of what the letters explained in the book, so the story of young Atlas and Lily remains as important as ever.
Hall says that they "wanted to nod to" and "acknowledge" Degeneres' relevance in the book, "because it is a big part of the book," but at the end of the day, "This story is not about Ellen."
Nicole Rivelli
Blake Lively as Lily Bloom, Justin Baldoni as Ryle Kincaid in "It Ends With Us"Lily and Atlas' first kiss
Lily's first kiss with Atlas in the book is her first-ever kiss, and it happens in her bed one night when Atlas is sleeping there to escape the frigid temperatures outside. It's an entirely private moment — unlike the movie version.
In the movie, Lily and Atlas are sitting together on the bus and she's leaning her head on his shoulder when one of their classmates makes a comment about her getting "rabies" because of him. The comment is enough to make Lily stand up and drag Atlas with her, and she plants a big kiss on his lips in front of the whole bus, while flipping the middle finger to the girl who was mocking her.
Nicole Rivelli/SONY PICTURES
Blake Lively as Lily Bloom in "It Ends With Us"Lily and Ryle's wedding
Lily and Ryle get married in the book in classic shotgun wedding style: they fly to Las Vegas for an impromptu ceremony, with Allysa and Marshall, Ryle's parents and Lily's mom in tow, after a spur-of-the-moment comment from Allysa.
Their wedding in the movie is similarly impromptu, but Ryle actually gets down on one knee and proposes to Lily — just minutes after Allysa gives birth. Only a brief scene of the actual wedding is shown, and the location of the ceremony isn't mentioned. Marshall officiates, and in the next scene, Lily's mom is devastated that she wasn't in attendance.
Jojo Whilden
Jenny Slate and Blake Lively in "It Ends With Us"Lily never tells Ryle that she'll leave him
In the book, after the first time Ryle touches Lily when the casserole burns in the oven, she tells him that if he ever hurts her again, she'll leave him. After he hurts her a second time — pushing her down the stairs after finding Atlas' phone number in her phone case — she struggles to stay with him because she'd made that promise, but she does.
The movie doesn't show any explicit conversation between Lily and Ryle about her leaving if he ever hurts her again. There's also no conversation about him walking away when he gets angry as a means of avoiding escalation, which there is in the book. Instead, it's only after their third fight, when he holds her down and bites her tattoo, that Lily runs from Ryle and meets Atlas at his restaurant.
How Lily finds out about Ryle and Allysa's brother's death
In the book, Lily learns the truth about Ryle and Allysa's older brother Emerson the day after Ryle pushes her down the stairs. He tells Lily that he accidentally shot his brother when they found their dad's loaded gun when he was only six years old. The revelation helps Lily understand her husband's reactions, and they mutually decide that, because of his anger issues, he needs to walk away in the future when he feels himself losing control around her.
In the movie, Allysa tells Lily about Emerson and his death, and after that, Lily tells Allysa everything – including that she's pregnant with Ryle's baby. The story doesn't appear to influence Lily's decision whether or not to stay with Ryle, like it does in the book.
Jojo Whilden
Colleen Hoover and Justin Baldoni on the set of "It Ends With Us"Ryle's role in Lily's pregnancy
Lily spends her pregnancy largely alone in both the book and the movie, but Ryle's presence is different in each. In the book, Ryle spends the first three months of her pregnancy unaware of it, as he's in Cambridge for a program — and he decides to leave because of their final fight, to give Lily some space. When he comes back, he's shocked to find her pregnant and helps around the apartment, putting things together, and trying to be as involved as Lily will let him as the pregancy progresses.
Lily and Ryle's relationship during her pregnancy is a little less clear in the movie. He doesn't go to England, or at least not that we see, and there's no clear discussion about them taking space from each other — though there is one scene where several texts appear on her phone from him that seem to indicate he's aware. Lily also turns Ryle down in the movie, just like she does in the book, when he tries to convince her to come home to him.
Changes to the pregnancy storyline, once again, came down to limited "real estate onscreen," Hall says. She shares that in an earlier cut of the movie, there was a montage scene showing Lily telling Ryle about the pregnancy, him begging her to take him back but her asking for space and time and moving out of his apartment into her own place.
Nicole Rivelli
Justin Baldoni as Ryle Kincaid in "It Ends With Us"The ending
Unfortunately for Atlas and Lily shippers, the movie ends with a little less closure on their budding relationship, compared to the book.
In the book's epilogue, Lily runs into Atlas (Brandon Sklenar) with her daughter one day while she's on the way to meet Ryle, and after dropping her off, she rushes back to find Atlas. She tells him that her daughter's middle name is "Dory" in honor of their shared love of Ellen's Finding Nemo character, and she declares herself "ready" to be loved by him again. The book ends with Atlas kissing Lily's heart-shaped tattoo and telling her, "You can stop swimming now, Lily. We finally reached the shore."
The movie ends with Lily and Atlas reuniting, too, but with more of a cliffhanger, as they both share that they're currently single. They get close, just for the screen to fade to black. It looks like Lily and Atlas' onscreen future is still up in the air for now.
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It Ends With Us premieres in theaters August 9.
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