Justin Baldoni, who directed and starred in the summer hit “It Ends With Us,” is taking a moment to thank his fans … who he says helped preserve the film’s message amid a reported feud.

We caught up with Justin in NYC, where he issued a heartwarming thank you to those who hit movie theaters this summer and supported the romantic drama, which tells the story of a domestic abuse survivor.

He noted … “I just want to say thank you to all the fans. To everybody. Thank you for seeing this movie, for supporting it, for supporting survivors, and for helping us make sure the message didn’t get lost. I’m just so grateful.”

As TMZ previously reported, the debut of “It Ends With Us” was almost derailed when reports began circulating of a possible feud between Justin and the film’s producer/co-lead, Blake Lively.

As sources told TMZ at the time … Blake felt fat-shamed by Justin during production, as well as felt uncomfortable during one kissing scene that they filmed for the movie.

Though, other sources defended Justin … saying there was no clear-cut villain in the drama, noting the two clashed simply over creative differences.

Regardless, both Justin and Blake have seemed to put the beef behind them … neither have publicly addressed the drama.

In fact, when asked for an update on how everyone was getting along now, Justin chose not to answer our photog … and, instead, plugged the flick’s arrival on Netflix.