People: ‘There is much more to this story’ between Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni

The play was pretty clear to everyone paying attention to the promotion around It Ends With Us. If the film bombed, Blake Lively and Reynolds would put the blame on director Justin Baldoni. If the film was successful, Blake and Ryan would take the credit and use the success (and credit) to marginalize Baldoni and make it sound like he played no role in the success. In fact, the play was: the film was successful in spite of Justin Baldoni. That’s exactly what is playing out now. IEWU is a success. It made $50 million in its opening weekend, coming in second behind Deadpool & Wolverine (which made $54 million). To celebrate, People Magazine got a briefing from an “insider” who insists that Baldoni did something which has made everyone side with Blake? Hm.

The issues brewing behind the scenes of It Ends With Us surpass alleged creative differences between the film’s director Justin Baldoni and star Blake Lively, a source tells PEOPLE.

“All is not what it seems,” a set source tells PEOPLE. “There is much more to this story. The principal cast and [author] Colleen Hoover will have nothing to do with him.”

Reps for Lively, 36, and Baldoni, 40, did not respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.

It Ends With Us opened to a strong $50 million at the domestic box office over the weekend, with Lively starring as Lily Bloom, a florist who falls in love with a neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni), and a toxic relationship forms. The cast also includes Jenny Slate, Brandon Sklenar, Hasan Minhaj, Isabela Ferrer, Alex Neustaedter, and more.

Rumors of discord behind the scenes grew prior to the film’s release as Baldoni did most of his press solo, and did not pose for pictures alongside the cast at the film’s New York premiere. Fans were also quick to spot that Lively, Hoover and Slate do not follow Baldoni back on Instagram. Reps for Slate, Sklenar, Minhaj and Ferrer, Neustaedter and Hoover did not respond to requests for comment.

Following a Hollywood Reporter story on Aug. 8 reporting there was “was a fracture among the filmmakers in the post-production process, wherein two different cuts of the movie emerged,” a source close to Baldoni attributed the discord to “creative differences” that had been “overblown” to PEOPLE Monday, claiming Lively “wants to direct the next movie, sidelining him and securing the rights from Colleen.”

But there has not been a discussion yet of a second movie, says a Hollywood source.

Baldoni told Variety his production company Wayfarer Studios has the option on adapting It Starts With Us but “I haven’t even begun to think that far ahead. I’m trying to stay in the present as much as I can.”

Reports of Baldoni’s alleged behavior surfaced Aug. 9, when the Daily Mail published a report alleging Baldoni was “chauvinistic” and “borderline abusive” on the set of It Ends with Us. The same day, Page Six reported Baldoni created an “extremely difficult” atmosphere behind the scenes for the entire cast.

[From People]

My perspective on this is multifold: I think it’s perfectly possible that Baldoni was rude to Blake or that he wasn’t the most perfect and capable director ever. I also think that Blake and Ryan Reynolds have clearly had their knives out for Justin for a while. Blake has not described what Justin did or said to her, so all we’re dealing with is what we’ve seen of all parties on the promotional trail. Blake has promoted IEWU like a frothy romantic drama, while Justin has promoted it by speaking with nuance about domestic violence. Justin understands that he’s going to be gone from any potential sequel too.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.