Following the smash-hit success of 2012’s Pitch Perfect, which netted way over $100m. around the world and scooped a handful of awards along the way, the film’s original producer Elizabeth Banks is now set to make her feature directorial debut helming Pitch Perfect 2.
THR reports that Banks will helm the sequel to Universal and Gold Circle’s original hit musical-comedy, with insiders noting that Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson are likely to return.
Not only did the original do well at the box office, its soundtrack has gone on to break records since its release. Initially the sixth-highest best-selling album in 2012, it became the best-selling soundtrack of last year, and currently stands as the best-selling soundtrack in digital history, with Anna Kendrick’s song, Cups, impressively peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 out in the US, a feat rarely achieved by songs from the movies.
Add to that the studio’s estimate that it has generated roughly $135m. in physical and digital home entertainment sales in North America alone, and you can see why there’d be a drive to return to this world.
And as long as Kendrick is back at centre stage, that’s absolutely fine by me.
The original sees Kendrick star as Beca, a college freshman who reluctantly joins an a cappella group called the Bellas and leads them to the finals.
Universal’s chairman Donna Langley notes that it was Banks who originated the idea for the original film, loosely adapting Mickey Rapkin’s non-fiction book, Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory.
Kay Cannon will be returning to script the sequel, having penned the script for the original success.
Having co-starred and produced the first film, Banks will be returning in those same roles as she takes to the director’s chair for her first full-length feature, having a handful of shorts under her belt already, including a segment in Movie 43.
