Pitch Perfect 2

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Pitch Perfect 2
File:Pitch Perfect 2 poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Elizabeth Banks
Produced by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Written by Kay Cannon
Based on <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Characters created
    by Kay Cannon
  • Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate a Cappella Glory
    by Mickey Rapkin
Starring <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Music by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Cinematography Jim Denault
Edited by Craig Alpert
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release dates
<templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • April 20, 2015 (2015-04-20) (Las Vegas premiere)
  • May 15, 2015 (2015-05-15) (United States)
Running time
115 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $29 million[2]
Box office $287.1 million[3]

Pitch Perfect 2 is a 2015 American musical comedy film directed and co-produced by Elizabeth Banks and written by Kay Cannon. It is a sequel to the 2012 film Pitch Perfect. The film centers on the fictional Barden University and The Bellas, an all-female a capella singing group. The film features an ensemble cast, including Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld, Brittany Snow, Alexis Knapp, Hana Mae Lee, Ester Dean, Chrissie Fit, Kelley Jakle and Shelley Regner as The Bellas. It was released on May 15, 2015 by Universal Pictures.

The film grossed over $287 million. It surpassed the total gross of the original film ($115.4 million) in five days, and also became the highest-grossing music comedy film of all-time, overtaking School of Rock ($131.3 million).[4] A sequel, Pitch Perfect 3, is set to be released on December 22, 2017.[5][6]

Plot

Three years after the events of the previous film, the Barden Bellas are now led by Beca Mitchell (Anna Kendrick) and three-time super senior Chloe Beale (Brittany Snow). The Bellas have become ICCA champions each of these three years. However, the group becomes involved in a national scandal called Muffgate when a wardrobe malfunction causes Fat Amy's (Rebel Wilson) pants to rip while performing at President Barack Obama's birthday gala. This leads to the Bellas' suspension from the ICCAs, meaning they are banned from holding auditions, and damages the group's reputation significantly. Beca makes a deal to allow the Bellas to be reinstated should they win the World Championship of A Capella. A cappella commentators John Smith (John Michael Higgins) and Gail Abernathy-McKadden-Feinberger (Elizabeth Banks) doubt the group's chances, as no American team has ever won the world title.

Freshman Emily Junk (Hailee Steinfeld) starts her college career, hoping to follow in her mother Katherine's (Katey Sagal) footsteps by being a Bella. At orientation, she watches an a cappella performance by the Treblemakers, now led by Beca's boyfriend Jesse Swanson (Skylar Astin). Emily meets him and tells him her dream of joining the Bellas. Benji Applebaum (Ben Platt), Jesse's best friend, overhears this and develops an awkward crush on her.

The Bellas learn that German a capella group Das Sound Machine (who are also the current World Champions) have replaced the Bellas on their victory tour. Additionally, Beca has started an internship at recording studio Residual Heat, something only Jesse knows about so that the Bellas won't question her commitment. On her first day she watches her egocentric boss (Keegan-Michael Key) degrade his assistant, causing her to realize the negative points of a career in producing music.

Emily goes to the Bellas' sorority house to audition for them because of their absence from the auditions. She is initially rejected by Fat Amy, but in a desperate attempt, she announces her Legacy Bella relation to her mother, who is very well-known in the a cappella community. When she sings her unfinished song "Flashlight," she succeeds in joining because of the rules of suspension stating that the Bellas can't hold any auditions, but Emily technically came to them. At the initiation party, Benji nervously tries to ask Emily out, but she kindly rejects him with the reason being that it's her first day of college. Bumper Allen (Adam Devine) returns, from being backup to John Mayer, as Barden security and starts hooking up with Amy.

At a car show where the ICCA winners are due to perform, the Bellas scout their replacements, German powerhouse "Das Sound Machine" (DSM) - led by intimidating duo Pieter Krämer (Flula Borg) and Kommissar (Birgitte Hjort Sørensen), who take delight in mocking the all-girl group. To her own surprise, Beca is too dazzled by Kommissar's striking appearance to win any verbal spars she engages her in. Determined to beat DSM at Worlds, the Bellas rehearse a new set that is similar to DSM's style. After one rehearsal, Beca shows off her mashup skills to her boss by helping produce Snoop Dogg's Christmas album. In turn, her boss offers her a chance to become a producer by listening to her demos. Later, the Bellas are invited to an exclusive riff-off, but end up losing to DSM in the final round when a nervous Emily flubs an attempt to sing "Flashlight," an original song she also performed for her Bellas audition. Not only was the song not from the right category ("90's Hip-Hop Jamz"), but original songs are frowned upon by the a cappella groups in attendance.

Having gone through Beca's demo samples, her boss expresses disappointment that all of her songs are mashups. He gives her another chance to add to her covering experience with the Bellas and come forth with original content. Because of this with the current events, Beca is becoming stressed out with both careers. Fat Amy reassures her confidence after revealing her knowledge of her internship. The next night, Bumper makes a romantic attempt to get serious with Amy, but she rejects him as she likes to not be "tied down by anything." The next day at the warmups, the Bellas' chance of winning end in disaster when the performance makes John and Gail question the Bellas' identity and sets Cynthia-Rose's (Ester Dean) hair on fire by pyrotechnics. In order to regain harmony and sync, Chloe takes them to a retreat led by former leader Aubrey Posen (Anna Camp). Before going, Emily goes to Katherine for help. She worries about the Bellas' relationships and her possibility of soloing at the ICCAs. Katherine then reassures her that going to the Worlds is bigger than the ICCAs and that the Bellas won't end now.

The boot camp gives the group physically challenging tasks in order to help with their harmony, but to no avail. Beca shows her frustration over the camp activities not helping the group and is pressured by Amy to reveal her internship. She starts a heated argument with Chloe over herself being the only one thinking about life beyond the Bellas and Chloe's obsession with winning Worlds. Beca storms off but is captured by a bear net. Chloe sees this as a win but becomes concerned for her safety when the net starts to rip and fall. Lily (Hana Mae Lee) manages to get her down.

The girls calm down and talk about their dreams and future. Beca reveals that her stress was caused by her independence in doing everything under extreme pressure and wishes that she can have Emily's confidence. Emily returns those feelings about her being intimidatingly good and reveals that just wants to be a Bella, not a Legacy. Beca then offers her to produce "Flashlight" at the studio. When the group realizes that they may not see each other after graduation, they regain harmony by singing "Cups (When I'm Gone)." Fat Amy realizes that she made a mistake with Bumper and goes to win him back, before getting trapped by a net.

She rows across the lake to him, singing "We Belong" to him, with the Trebles and Bellas watching from their houses. Bumper initially rejects her, but he ends up joining her in the song. At the studio, Emily and Beca present their song to Beca's boss, in which he envies their talent and looks forward to producing with them.

The senior Bellas graduate and they all head off to Copenhagen for the World Finals, with Jesse and Benji to cheer them on. Benji wishes Emily luck before the start of Worlds and she kisses him. The performance of DSM and the crowd's reaction discourage the Bellas, but Fat Amy gives them one of her pep talks and brings back the spirit to the group. Their performance starts with a handclap introduction and they rock the Worlds with their real sound. Suddenly, they perform a harmonized version of "Flashlight" with Aubrey, Katherine, and other past Bellas joining in. The Bellas win the championship and repair the damaged legacy. As the senior Bellas leave Barden, they give Emily a belated proper initiation with Fat Amy showing her how to do the last tradition: christening the house by sliding down the staircase.

In a mid-credits scene, Bumper performs on The Voice, receiving a reluctant attitude from Adam and choosing Christina as his coach. He then makes her uncomfortable when he lengthens his hug to her.

Cast

The Barden Bellas
  • Anna Kendrick as Beca Mitchell, the senior leader of the Bellas, known for creating the unique modern-day sound of the Bellas. She is an aspiring record producer and is now an intern at Residual Heat, a record label.
  • Rebel Wilson as Patricia "Fat Amy", a senior Bella from Australia and Bumper's love interest.
  • Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Junk, a freshman legacy Bella who is an aspiring songwriter, and Benji's love interest. Her mother was also a Barden Bella.
  • Brittany Snow as Chloe Beale, the three-time super senior with a Type A personality who is the co-leader of the Bellas.
  • Alexis Knapp as Stacie Conrad, a senior Bella known for being overly sexual.
  • Hana Mae Lee as Lilly Onakurama, a senior Bella known for her quiet speaking voice, odd remarks, and beat-boxing.
  • Ester Dean as Cynthia-Rose Adams, a lesbian senior Bella known for her rapping skills.
  • Chrissie Fit as Florencia "Flo" Fuentes, a senior Bella who joined the group her sophomore year when she came to Barden University from Guatemala.
  • Kelley Jakle as Jessica, a senior Bella.
  • Shelley Regner as Ashley, a senior Bella.

<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>

Additional characters

Production

In December 2012, Skylar Astin revealed that he and Rebel Wilson had had meetings with Universal Studios about the potential sequel.[7] In April 2013, it was confirmed that a sequel would be released in 2015.[8] Elizabeth Banks directed the sequel, and Kay Cannon returned as screenwriter.[9] Paul Brooks produced for Gold Circle Films, alongside Banks and Max Handelman.[9] Deke Sharon returned as vocal producer, and has a brief cameo as a German reporter.[10] As in the first movie, they ran a month of "a cappella boot camp" before filming.[11]

Casting

Anna Kendrick and Wilson returned to the cast early in 2014 to play the characters they originated in the first film.[12] Brittany Snow reprised her character.[13] On April 24, Chrissie Fit was added to the cast.[14] On May 1, Hailee Steinfeld was added to the cast, playing a new member of the Barden Bellas.[15] On May 5, Adam DeVine was reported to return in the film.[16] On May 14, Katey Sagal was added to the cast, playing Steinfeld's character's mother.[17] On May 29, Flula Borg was added to the cast.[18] He played the leader of a European a cappella group, Das Sound Machine, that competed with the Bellas.[19] It was confirmed on June 18, 2014 that Christopher Shepard was added to the cast.[20] It was confirmed on June 19, 2014 that Pentatonix would play the role of a rival group to the Barden Bellas.[21] It was later confirmed that The Filharmonic from season 4 of The Sing Off would make a cameo appearance as a rival group from the Philippines.[22] On August 24, 2014 it was announced that Penn Masala,[23] the all-male Hindi a cappella group from director Elizabeth Banks's and producer Max Handelman's alma mater The University of Pennsylvania, would be featured as a team from Southeast Asia.[24] On June 25, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen was confirmed added to the cast.[25]

Filming

On May 21, 2014, principal photography began at Louisiana State University (LSU) campus in Baton Rouge.[26]

Music

On December 3, 2014, Mark Mothersbaugh was hired to compose the music for the film.[27] The official soundtrack was released on May 12, 2015.[28] The special edition soundtrack was later released on August 8, 2015.[29]

The original album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 107,000 equivalent album units (92,000 copies of traditional sales) in the week ending May 17, 2015.[30]

No. Title Music Length
1. "Universal Fanfare"   0:33
2. "Kennedy Center Performance (We Got the World/Timber/America The Beautiful/Wrecking Ball)"   The Barden Bellas 2:27
3. "Lollipop"   The Treblemakers 2:43
4. "Car Show (Uprising/Tsunami)"   Das Sound Machine 1:47
5. "Winter Wonderland/Here Comes Santa Claus"   3:04
6. "Riff Off (Thong Song/(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty/Low/Bootylicious/Baby Got Back/Live Like You Were Dying/Before He Cheats/A Thousand Miles/We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together/What's Love Got to Do with It/This Is How We Do It/Doo Wop (That Thing)/Poison/Scenario/Insane in the Brain/Flashlight)"  
  • Das Sound Machine
  • Tone Hangers
  • The Barden Bellas
  • Green Bay Packers
  • The Treblemakers
4:24
7. "Jump"  
  • Das Sound Machine
  • Tone Hanger
  • The Treblemakers
  • Green Bay Packers
1:16
8. "Convention Performance (Promises/Problem)"   The Barden Bellas 1:41
9. "Back to Basics (Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy/You Can't Hurry Love/Lady Marmalade/MMMBop/My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It))"   The Barden Bellas 1:30
10. "Cups ("When I'm Gone") [Campfire Version]"   The Barden Bellas 0:45
11. "We Belong"   3:34
12. "Any Way You Want It (World Championship Medley)"  
1:56
13. "World Championship Finale 1 (My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)/All I Do Is Win)"   Das Sound Machine 2:01
14. "World Championship Finale 2 (Run the World (Girls)/Where Them Girls At/Lady Marmalade/We Belong/Timber/Flashlight)"   The Barden Bellas 4:16
15. "Crazy Youngsters"   Ester Dean 3:39
16. "Pitch Perfect 2 End Credit Medley"   Mark Mothersbaugh 3:00
17. "Flashlight"   Jessie J 3:29
18. "All of Me (Bumper's Audition)"   Adam DeVine 1:27
Total length:
43:32[28][31]
Weekly charts
Chart (2015) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[33] 3
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[34] 11
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[35] 144
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[36] 3
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[37] 12
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[38] 8
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[39] 26
US Billboard 200[40] 1
Year-end charts
Chart (2015) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[41] 27

Release

The film was released on May 7, 2015 in Australia and New Zealand, and May 15 in the United States and Canada.[42]

Marketing

A still from the rehearsals for the film was revealed on May 16, 2014.[43] The poster was released on November 18, 2014 and the trailer came out the following day. A second trailer was aired during the Super Bowl on February 1, 2015.[44]

Home media

Director Elizabeth Banks stated an additional performance by the Treblemakers was filmed specifically for the DVD release. Also included on the DVD will be deleted scenes.[45] On May 20, 2015, it was announced that FX Networks had acquired U.S. television broadcasting rights to the film.[46]

The Blu-ray and DVD editions of Pitch Perfect 2 were released on September 22, 2015 in the U.S.[47] with a Target-exclusive edition containing additional bonus features being released the same day.[48]

Reception

Box office

Pitch Perfect 2 grossed $184.2 million in North America and $102.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $287.1 million, against a budget of $29 million.[3] In its first five days, the film surpassed the total gross of the original ($115.4 million), and also overtook School of Rock ($131.3 million) for the highest grossing musical-comedy of all-time.[4] Deadline.com calculated the net profit of the film to be $139.64 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film.[49]

In the United States and Canada, Pitch Perfect 2 grossed $4.6 million from Thursday night showings and $27.8 million on its opening day, increasing the opening weekend projections from $40 million to $64 million.[50] In its opening weekend, the film grossed $69.2 million, finishing first at the box office.[51] The opening weekend gross was more than the entire North American total gross of the first film ($65 million), is the third biggest PG-13 comedy opening of all-time (behind The Simpsons Movie's $74 million in 2007 and Austin Powers in Goldmember's $73 million in 2002) and the highest grossing opening ever for a musical.[52]

Outside North America, the film opened at number one in Australia and New Zealand, earning $7.6 million and $1.2 million respectively.[53] The film grossed $22.1 million in Australia, $27.3 million in the United Kingdom and $2.7 million in New Zealand.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a rating of 66%, based on 183 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Pitch Perfect 2 sings in sweet comedic harmony, even if it doesn't hit quite as many high notes as its predecessor."[54] On Metacritic, the film holds score of 63 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[55] In CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, cinema audiences gave Pitch Perfect 2 an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.[56]

Accolades

Billboard Music Awards

Teen Choice Awards

People's Choice Awards

Kids Choice Awards

MTV Movie Awards

Sequel

On April 11, 2015, a month before the release of the film, it was announced that Rebel Wilson would return for a third film, although she stated that she did not know if Anna Kendrick or any of the other cast members would also be reprising their roles. She added that she would be "up for a Fat Amy spin-off," although nothing has been confirmed.[57]

Director, star, and producer Elizabeth Banks acknowledged the possibility of a third film, saying, "I will say, it would be disingenuous to say that no one's talking about a Pitch Perfect 3; the possibility of it. We are really focused on getting as many butts in seats for this one. If fans embrace it, we are going to seriously think about what the continuing journey would look like, but we don’t know what that is yet".[58]

On June 10, 2015, a third film was officially confirmed, with Kay Cannon returning to write the script.[59] Several days later it was announced both Kendrick and Wilson would reprise their roles, and later Brittany Snow was also confirmed to return.[5] Banks will also return to produce.[60]

The film was originally slated for a July 21, 2017 release, and was later pushed back to August 4, 2017 before moving back to the July 21 slot.[6] In May 2016 it was again moved, this time being pushed back to December 22, 2017.[61]

References

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External links