Inspired by several of the films in multiplexes this holiday season, here’s a list of some of our favorite films - that became some of our least favorite film series.
Look, I’m no stranger to college acapella groups. When I was an undergraduate, a ragtag group of choir kids — myself most definitely included — organized the first men’s acapella group in the modern history of the university, and a quick Google search shows that the group is still alive and well to this day (no, I won’t tell you the name of the university or the name of the ensemble, so don’t bother asking). So am I pretty much as cool and influential as the Bellas in the Pitch Perfect movie series? Why, yes. I’d like to think so, yes.
Spend long enough interviewing actors for a living, you start to pick little things up. For instance, whenever a performer’s discussing their most recent production and utters any variant on the phrase “it really felt like the cast and crew was one big family,” that’s a major red flag that they’re full of crap. Costars are coworkers, and usually for about six months, and that’s on the longer side. But the ladies of Pitch Perfect 3 seem to be pretty earnest when they gush about the spirit of sisterhood and camaraderie that dominated the atmosphere on set. And for those as skeptical of myself, they proved it with video evidence.
Pitch Perfect 2 wasn’t as hilarious and fun as its predecessor, but it was good enough to warrant another sequel. Pitch Perfect 3 will hit theaters this December, and as such is gathering a few additions to its cast. While the main Barden Bellas are returning, as well as Elizabeth Banks, there’s plenty of room for some new faces, and today john Lithgow has officially joined the cast.
Elizabeth Banks’ time directing the Pitch Perfect franchise is aca-over. She will not have Pitch Perfect 3 on her director’s film-aca-phy. She’ll instead divert her energy into other pr-aca-jects.