The courtroom saga that has overshadowed everything about "It Ends With Us" isn't slowing down.
A federal judge in New York has now set the stage for the next phase of the sprawling legal battle between Blake Lively and her co-star and director Justin Baldoni, and the timeline is stretching well into next year.
According to court documents filed this week, both sides are gearing up for a discovery process that could drag embarrassing texts, emails, and behind-the-scenes footage into the public record.
That means the messy he-said, she-said that started as a feud over a movie's marketing could soon become a months-long drip of revelations.
For anyone who somehow missed it: Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and of orchestrating a smear campaign against her.
Baldoni countersued, denying the claims and alleging Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, tried to hijack the film and damage his reputation.
The new update matters because it signals this isn't heading toward a quiet settlement anytime soon.
Legal experts watching the case say the discovery phase is where reputations really take a beating, since private communications have a way of surfacing at the worst possible moment.
Fans have been picking sides online since day one, and the dueling narratives have turned the film's press tour into a case study in Hollywood damage control.
What was supposed to be a buzzy book adaptation became a PR nightmare that neither camp seems able to walk away from.
Adding to the spectacle, the judge's scheduling order means key hearings will likely land right in the middle of awards season and the summer movie slate.
Every new filing risks becoming its own headline, and every leaked detail gives social media fresh ammunition.
Neither Lively nor Baldoni has commented publicly on the latest procedural step, and their legal teams have stayed tight-lipped beyond what's in the filings.
But silence rarely lasts long in a case this volatile, and insiders expect the next round of motions to be anything but boring.
The real question now is whether either side blinks before the depositions start.
History suggests they won't, which means the public gets a front-row seat to one of the nastiest celebrity legal fights in recent memory.
Our take: this one has all the ingredients of a years-long circus, and the discovery phase is where the most damaging material usually leaks out.
If you thought the drama peaked last year, you were wrong.
Final Thoughts
Buckle up, because the next filings are going to be brutal.