Hollywood’s entertainment industry has seen a lot of questionable people debut in it over the decades, and after the recent turn of events, Blake Lively seems to have made her place pretty high on the list. While the diva was being scrutinized for reportedly meddling with the director’s final cut for her flick It Ends with Us, it sounds like that creative-control drama didn’t start there.
For one, when it comes to Lively, a lot of old reports and interview excerpts from the actress have been popping up to her disadvantage now, and one of them brought back the time she herself admitted not liking to get directed around. In fact, the time she came clean about this was also when she shut down her biggest flop’s production for six months with a hand injury.
The time Blake Lively admitted to not liking to get directed
As of late, Lively has been battling with serious accusations of reportedly trying to mess with the creative control of her recently released sleeper hit It Ends with Us, but old records are claiming it might be nothing new for her. This is because the Gossip Girl star has even depicted similar traits of wanting control and not liking to get directed in the past too.
This goes back to 2017, when Blake Lively was busy working on The Rhythm Section, her action/thriller flick with Reed Morano. Apparently, it was on this very movie that she ended up shutting production for six whole months after getting her hand shattered while filming an action sequence with her co-star Jude Law. During an appearance on Live with Kelly and Mark, she candidly confessed to the same back then, saying:
There are fight sequences with me and Jude Law—it’s a four-minute fight scene and I shattered my hand in the scene. We shut down for six months! Oh yeah, it was crazy. I have a bit of an ego, like I’m the guy who doesn’t ask for directions. So when I got hurt, I was like, ‘Fine, fine, just keep shooting.’
This reported shutdown of production for six months, inevitably, didn’t have a positive impact on the movie. As per the detailed analysis by @spiritualshift_ on X, it must have led to skyrocketing costs as, with the production shut for so long, costs would have increased with the crew members staying on payroll, equipment remaining idle, and logistics for rescheduling taking a toll as well.
Not to mention, this delay also led to the film missing its prime release windows and audience interest, hurting its box office revenue. Apparently, all of this, in turn, resulted in her $50 million flick crashing hard at the box office as it made a mere $2.7 million opening weekend and only grossed a total of $6.7 million throughout its run, holding the record for the lowest opening ever for a film debuting in 3,000-plus theaters.
Of course, this resurfacing amidst her ongoing legal drama with her It Ends with Us co-star Justin Baldoni is not a good look. But that’s not all, because making matters worse are the reports that Lively even butted heads with the creatives responsible for making the respective action/thriller flick.
Blake Lively reportedly clashed over creative challenges on The Rhythm Section
Apparently, as it turns out, It Ends with Us might as well not have been the only movie where Blake Lively ostensibly sought so much creative control, as Baldoni accused her in his lawsuit of not only taking over his film and refusing to show up to work but also reportedly throwing diva tantrums to get her way, all the while running the budget into the ground.
On The Rhythm Section as well, Lively reportedly clashed with director Reed Morano and Eon Productions over the final product as a Deadline article suggested the existence of creative challenges during post-production. All of this even probed Paramount, responsible for marketing and distribution, not to heavily invest in promoting the movie, fearing further financial loss.
With all of this being put out there, it’s unarguable that one of the biggest problems of Lively is that she seeks a lot more creative control on the sets she works on than just staying and performing as an actress—the role she gets hired for. And all of these reports are indeed true, then Justin Baldoni might as well be playing the upper hand in his ongoing legal battle with the actress.
The Rhythm Section can currently be streamed on Prime Video.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
