Pitch Perfect (film series)

Pitch Perfect is a series of musical comedy films created by Kay Cannon, loosely based on the non-fiction book Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate a Cappella Glory by Mickey Rapkin. Jason Moore directed the first film and Elizabeth Banks directed the second, with the upcoming third installment set to be released on July 21, 2017.^[1] Paul Brooks, Max Handelman, and Banks produced the films. It features an ensemble cast, including Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, Brittany Snow, Skylar Astin, Adam DeVine, Ben Platt, Alexis Knapp, Hana Mae Lee, Ester Dean, Hailee Steinfeld, Chrissie Fit, Katey Sagal, John Michael Higgins, and Banks. The series is distributed by Universal Pictures.

The first film was a sleeper hit. It received positive reviews and is financially successful, grossing over $115 million against a $17 million budget. A sequel was made and released in 2015, to much greater financial success, grossing over $287 million against $29 million budget. The series has since gained a cult following and the second film is the current highest grossing musical comedy film of all time, beating School of Rock's record. The third film is set to be released on 2017.

Films

Pitch Perfect (2012)

The film focuses on a female a cappella group, The Barden Bellas, from Barden University. They are disgraced because a member, Aubrey Posen (Anna Camp), vomits onstage during their final performance at a national a cappella competition. Determined to get back to the top, the now senior Aubrey and co-lead Chloe Beale (Brittany Snow) desperately recruit new members, which includes women that actually does not fit into the Bellas' standards. Aubrey wants everything done her way. Then, there's Beca Mitchell (Anna Kendrick), a rebellious freshman who initially isn't interested in college. She attends college by her father's (John Benjamin Hickey) order. She joins The Bellas after being persuaded by Chloe during showertime after she hears Beca singing. She forms a friendship with fellow freshman, Jesse Swanson (Skylar Astin), who eventually joins a popular all male Barden a cappella group, The Treblemakers, led by egostical Bumper Allen (Adam DeVine). Tension rises between Aubrey and Beca. Beca thinks that by using a new and more modern setlist, The Bellas has chances to win, while Aubrey insists that they're going to be victors by sticking to the traditions; using the same setlist The Bellas has been using for years. Their tension heats up when Beca, seeing the crowds getting bored by their performance, improvises a different song onstage, which makes Aubrey furious. Beca exits the group, while The Bellas lost anyway. As this happens, Beca shuts Jesse away. The Bellas are reinstated again after a rival team was disqualified because their leader is still in high school. When the group, out from Beca, reformed, Aubrey become increasingly controlling and critical to every members during a rehearsal, much to everyone's, especially Chloe, limits. Meanwhile, Beca realizes that she loves being a Bella and tries to apologize to Jesse, which he declines. The rehearsal turns chaotic just before Beca comes and apologizes to Aubrey. Aubrey takes her back in and after everyone sharing an honest heart-to-heart conversation, Aubrey gives Beca the chance to lead them. Just before the finals, Bumper left the Trebles to be John Mayer's back-up singer. He is replaced by Jesse's dorky roommate Benji Applebaum (Ben Platt), who was previously rejected by Bumper at the beginning. The Bellas finally find their harmony, and performs a final performance, with an improved set list, which leads them to victory. Beca reunites with Jesse with one of the songs on the setlist, which happens to be a song from Jesse's favorite movie. They rekindle and share a kiss, starting a relationship. Six months later, The Bellas and The Trebles are helding an audition, with Aubrey and Chloe nowhere to be seen (implied they've graduated).

Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)

Set 4 years after the first film began, Beca, now the co-leader of The Bellas with Chloe (who is revealed to purposely fails her Russian literature for 3 years so she can still be in The Bellas), is now a senior. During a performance for president Barack Obama, a member, Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson), accidentally rips her pants in front of the crowd, creating a national sensation. As a result, The Bellas are prohibited to perform, and could be reinstated if they win an international a cappella championship, in which no American team has ever won. At the same time, Beca starts a music producing internship which only her boyfriend Jesse knows about. She keep it a secret from The Bellas, fearing Chloe will be angry as she has her attention divided. A new freshman, Emily Junk (Hailee Steinfeld), joins, in hope to follow her mother, Katherine Junk (Katey Sagal) steps as a Bella. She is an excellent songwriter, she writes an original song titled Flashlight. The Bellas has to face their biggest challenge, an intimidating and arrogant German a cappella group, Das Sound Machine. Meanwhile, in other hand, Fat Amy starts a casual relationship with Bumper, who returns as a security guard, before realizing they have fallen in love with each other. On their journey to the worlds championship, The Bellas eventually grows apart and lost their harmony, blaming each other. Chloe take them to a retreat that is run by a former Bella, Aubrey. During their supposed to be bonding, Beca becomes frustrated and an argument with Chloe sparks. She wants to focus on the world beyond The Bellas while Chloe wants everyone to be committed to The Bellas. This angers Beca, who on her way out, got trapped in a net. After she is released, The Bellas and Aubrey gather in a campfire, sharing a meaningful talk about their future after graduation. They sing a heartwarming rendition of Cups and find their lost harmony again. After graduation, they head to the world championships. Before the Bellas goes onstage, Benji and Emily kiss, as Benji has been attracted to her since the beginning of the film. and they included Flashlight in their setlist, with every former Bellas including Aubrey and Katherine. They outperform Das Sound Machine and declared the World Acapella Champion. The film ends with the senior Bellas giving Emily a proper initiation before their departure from college.

Pitch Perfect 3 (2017)

On June 10, 2015, a third film was officially confirmed, with Kay Cannon returning to write the script.^[2] The film was slated to be released on July 21, 2017, before being pushed back to August 4, 2017.^[3] Several days later it was announced both Kendrick and Wilson would reprise their roles, and later Brittany Snow was also confirmed to return.^[4] Hailee Steinfeld is also going to reprise her role.^[5] On October 18, 2016, Anna Camp was also confirmed to be returning.^[6] Banks will also return to direct, and also as a producer along with Max Handelman and Paul Brooks.^[7] Banks later announced that she would be stepping down as director due to scheduling conflicts and parental responsibilities, but would remain a producer.^[8]

The film was originally slated for a July 21, 2017 release, but was later pushed back to August 4 before moving back to the July 21 slot.^[9] It was then pushed back to December 22.^[10]

Development

Development & Production

The film is based on Mickey Rapkin's non-fiction book Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory. Rapkin, senior editor at GQ magazine, spent a season covering competitive collegiate a cappella. He followed the Tufts University Beelzebubs, the University of Oregon Divisi (the loose inspiration for the Bellas), and the University of Virginia Hullabahoos, who have a cameo in the film. Rapkin's book mainly covers the singing, groupies, partying and rivalries. Two members of the a cappella community, Deke Sharon, who founded the International Championship of College A Cappella, and Ed Boyer, both in Rapkin's book, were brought on board to arrange songs, produce vocals and act as on-site music directors, where they ran a month-long "a cappella boot camp".^[11] The film was shot throughout campus and inside buildings at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Elizabeth Banks is a co-producer and a co-star in the film.

Casting

The casting department included Justin Coulter, Rich Delia, Allison Estrin, and Michael Roth.^[12] One of the producers, Paul Brooks, stated "First and foremost, we were looking for actors who had comedic instincts and thought we'd get lucky with terrific actors who happened to be funny and can actually dance and maybe sing. It turns out we did get lucky with our cast!" According to producer Elizabeth Banks, "The character Beca required someone who was grounded, who has a strong point of view on the world, who is funny and empathetic and someone who we can all relate to and root for." Of Kendrick she said, "Anna is all those things, and there was no other choice." Fellow producer Brooks said "I saw Anna in Up in the Air and thought it was the most exquisite, elegant, balanced, sublime performance. Anna was our first choice for the role of Beca."^[13]

When casting the character of Jesse, Max Handelman said "We were looking for a young John Cusack-type guy. We needed to find someone who was kind of awkward but not a geek, but not so cool that you're not rooting for him." Skylar Astin was chosen for the role. Of Astin's audition, Banks said the chemistry between Skylar and Anna when they read together prior to shooting was "clear and they were able to riff off each other."^[14]

Rebel Wilson was recognized for her performance in the comedy film Bridesmaids upon auditioning for the role of Fat Amy, which she won instantly. Moore recalled Wilson singing Lady Gaga's "The Edge of Glory" while beating "on her chest with her fists." He said, "I didn't even hear the end of the song because I was laughing so hard. There's this beautiful openness to the way Rebel approaches everything, and that's what works great for the character. She's fearless."^[15] Adam DeVine was personally chosen by Banks and Handelman for the role of Bumper after they saw him on the television series Workaholics. Banks confessed that she and her husband are "big Workaholics fans," and after watching one night during the film's casting, they saw DeVine and "immediately thought" he would be a good choice for Bumper. He initially declined because he was not a singer. DeVine eventually surprised Banks and Handelman with his vocal skills.^[16] Anna Camp was chosen for the role of Aubrey. Producer Max Handelman said, "Elizabeth and I were huge fans of Anna's from True Blood. Aubrey is set up as the antagonist for Beca, and Beca's already a bit hard-edged, so it was so important to find an actress who could play Aubrey as someone who could marshal the crazy but also was sympathetic."^[17]

Cast

Note: A light grey cell indicates the character who did not appear in that film.

Reception

Critical response

Box office performance

References