Blake Lively Returns With The Survival List After $351M Justin Baldoni Smash: Everything We Know
Riding the It Ends With Us wave, Blake Lively is pivoting to rom-coms, signing on to produce Lionsgate’s The Survival List — a swift follow-up to her hit turn opposite Justin Baldoni.
Blake Lively is keeping the post-It Ends With Us momentum going, and yes, her next move sounds like a full-on rom-com. Lionsgate just picked up a new feature called The Survival List, with Lively set to star and produce. Trade reports flagged the deal and sketched out the setup, which is basically: what if a workplace comedy swerved into a shipwreck and then decided to flirt?
So, what is The Survival List?
Lively plays Annie, a reality TV producer who gets assigned to a survival series she would rather not make. Her co-headliner on camera? A legendary outdoors expert named Chopper Lane. She reluctantly signs on, things go sideways, and they end up stranded on an island after a shipwreck. From there, a not-great revelation complicates everything, and the whole mess turns funny and kind of sweet as Annie and Chopper start to click. Think opposites-at-work chemistry, but with sand in your shoes.
Who is making it, and who is in it?
Lionsgate is the studio. Lively is both the lead and a producer. Marc Platt is also producing. Casting beyond Lively has not been announced yet, and the film is still looking for a director. In other words: the package is coming together now.
When could it actually come out?
The plan, per early chatter, is to kick off initial production sometime next year. If that holds, a 2027 release window is realistic. Obviously, schedules change, but that is the current ballpark.
- Title: The Survival List
- Genre: Romantic comedy, with a survival-show twist
- Star/Producer: Blake Lively (as Annie)
- Producer: Marc Platt
- Studio: Lionsgate
- Status: Casting underway; director not set
- Story beats: Reluctant TV producer + iconic survival guru Chopper Lane; shipwreck; complicated reveal; sparks fly
- Target timing: Aims to start filming next year; 2027 release is in play if everything stays on track
Quick context: Lively's last big one
It Ends With Us was directed by Justin Baldoni and co-starred Lively with Baldoni, Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj, and Brandon Sklenar. The movie pulled in about $351 million worldwide and landed a divisive Rotten Tomatoes split: 54% from critics, 88% from audiences. If you missed it in theaters, it is streaming on Netflix in the US.