Kendrick and Wilson likely to return…
Elizabeth Banks (‘Walk of Shame’ ‘The Hunger Games’) is set to feature directorial debut with a sequel to the hit 2012 musical comedy ‘Pitch Perfect.’ The actress, who also co-starred in and produced the Jason Moore-directed original, is is also expected to return in the same capacity to the sequel.
‘Pitch Perfect’ centred on Anna Kendrick’s Beca, a freshman at Barden University, who is cajoled into joining her college’s all-girls a cappella group, The Bellas. Injecting some much needed energy into their repertoire, The Bellas take on their male rivals in a campus competition.
Kendrick, along with Rebel Wilson, are expected to return to reprise their roles with the first film’s scribe, Kay Cannon, back to provide the script.
“Elizabeth originated the idea for ‘Pitch Perfect’ and was instrumental in making the first film such a huge success,” said Universal Pictures chairman Donna Langley. “She brings an enormous amount of energy and experience to everything she works on and we’re thrilled that she is making her feature directorial debut on ‘Pitch Perfect 2.’”
Banks and her Brownstone Productions partner Max Handelman will produce alongside Paul Brooks over at Gold Circle.
The first film grossed more than €81 million worldwide on a €12 million budget and was one of the top-performing DVD and Video-On-Demand titles of 2013. It’s also proved to be a hit, recently going platinum with over 1 million units sold. The single ‘Cups’ nearly went triple platinum, with combined sales of a little less than 3 million units sold.