Colleen Hooper, a famous novelist, drew on her personal experiences to write It ends with us, the story of abuse, lost love, and redemption. What began as a single book in 2016 quickly became a global sensation in 2021, and a feature film from Sony Pictures in 2024. The story follows Lily Bloom (Blake Lively from Gossip Girl Lily, still recovering from her parents’ abusive marriage, moves to Boston to pursue her dream of opening a flower shop. Along the way, she meets magnetic surgeon Ryle Kinkaid (Justin Baldoni) and sparks begin to fly between them. Despite their mutual attraction, things get even more sinister and tragic as Ryle’s demons come to the surface. Lily’s situation is further complicated when she reunites with her first love, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar), at the local diner – and discovers that their feelings for each other never faded. When Lily realizes that her parents’ relationship is playing into her own, she must make difficult decisions to find true happiness.

In this exclusive interview with CBR, Hooper discusses the process of turning a novel into a film, the changes made in the adaptation, the widespread success of his story, and the lingering feeling of imposter syndrome.

CBR: Your novel, It ends with us, It’s a very personal story that has now become a cultural phenomenon. As a writer, how does it feel to see your story resonate with such a wide audience?

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Colleen Hooper:
Oh my God, this is… I can’t even say it’s a dream come true, because I don’t think my dreams have gotten that big! Yeah, it’s just crazy. I feel like I’m pinching myself every day waiting to wake up.

That’s right. I think most of us, if our dreams came true or something we never thought possible happened, probably wouldn’t believe it.

Yeah, yeah. I suffer from imposter syndrome, in a way.

Well, that’s good to know – most of us know. What’s it like to see your novel become a movie? Were there any changes that had to be made? And if so, why?

Yeah. I, you know, obviously, when I condense a whole book into a movie, there’s bound to be things that get left out and changes that get made. But I pretty much just go with the flow. I understand all the changes that had to be made.
I feel like everything worked out for the best of the film.
So I hope that when readers go to see it, they’ll feel the same way and feel like they’ve done the book justice, because I absolutely feel like they have.

That’s interesting, because you wrote It ends with us You did it all yourself. And now it’s a team effort! You work with another writer, Christy Hall, producer Alex Saks, director/actor Jason Baldoni, not to mention the cast, crew, and art direction. Did you have any say in how the project ended up? How did you work as a team to achieve this?

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Yes, I took a step back and let them do their thing. I gave them the project. I had complete trust in them. I didn’t really get involved until towards the end of filming and editing! So the fact that I don’t know if I would have made many changes is a testament to their passion and talent for this project.

Yes, especially because a lot of the iconography in the book and the film is about nature, flowers, wood, natural textures, and we saw that in the costumes and the set design. Did you play a role in making all of that happen?

I wish I could say I did it, but it was all just a design! [laughs] There are some talented people working on this film – as you can see behind me – and every time I show up to do something, I’m just blown away by how beautiful it all is. The pop-up store they opened in Los Angeles is just beautiful. I wish I could say I oversaw some of that work – but I didn’t.

Well, to be honest, you did all the groundwork years before the novel. So maybe it’s a good thing for you to take a little break. Because writing is half the battle! Most of us can’t write. Is there a scene that you’re particularly looking forward to seeing happen?

Almost every scene in Atlas! There were quite a few in the book that I was hoping would make it to the movies and not get lost in the editing room. But, yeah,
I’m excited about everything that ended up being filmed.

I think you have good reason to be excited. I think Atlas is going to be a very popular character.

Yeah, I hope so.

I think so. He was definitely my favorite character.

Oh good! [laughs]

It Ends With Us hits theaters August 9.

It ends with us

Based on the 2016 novel by Colleen Hoover, It Ends With Us is a 2016 drama-romance film directed by Justin Baldoni. The film follows Lily, a recent college graduate, who meets and falls in love with a man named Ryle. However, a traumatic incident compounded by the return of her high school sweetheart complicates her plans.

Director

Justin Baldoni

Release date

June 21, 2024

Casting

Blake Lively, Jenny Slate, Brandon Sklenar, Justin Baldoni

Writers

Justin Baldoni, Christy Hall, Colleen Hoover