With two weeks to go before a scheduled trial, “It Ends With Us” co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni announced a surprise settlement Monday, ending a dispute that had played out in court hearings and headlines for almost a year and a half.

Publicly, lawyers for the former co-stars continued to hash out key pretrial issues before a federal judge.

But behind the scenes, talks to resolve the case began in earnest last month, after a judge dismissed most of Lively’s claims , a source familiar with the matter told NBC News. The teams held meetings over the weekend and finalized the deal Monday, the source said.…