Pitch Perfect 2 is a 2015 American musical comedy film directed and produced by Elizabeth Banks and written by Kay Cannon. It is a sequel to the 2012 film Pitch Perfect, and it is Banks's directorial debut. The film follows the Barden University Bellas, an all-female a cappella group, who face off against a German group in a world a cappella championship. The film's ensemble cast features Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Skylar Astin, Adam DeVine, Anna Camp, Ben Platt, Hana Mae Lee, Alexis Knapp, Ester Dean, Kelley Jakle, Shelley Regner, John Michael Higgins, and Elizabeth Banks—all reprising their roles from the previous film—as well as Hailee Steinfeld, Katey Sagal, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, and Flula Borg.
Pitch Perfect 2 was released in the United States on May 15, 2015, by Universal Pictures. It grossed $287.5 million worldwide, surpassing the total gross of the original film ($115.4 million) in five days. It became the highest-grossing musical comedy film of all time, overtaking School of Rock ($131.3 million). A sequel, Pitch Perfect 3, was released on December 22, 2017.
Plot
In 2015, The Barden Bellas have been the ICCA National champions for three consecutive years and are now led by senior Beca Mitchell and three-time super senior Chloe Beale.
A national scandal (dubbed "Muffgate") erupts when Patricia "Fat Amy" Hobart accidentally rips her pants in front of U.S. President Barack Obama during his birthday performance at the Kennedy Center, exposing her genitalia and leading to the Bellas' suspension from the ICCAs despite Beca saying that it was all an accident.
Beca makes a deal that they can be reinstated should they win the A Cappella World Championship. Freshman Emily Junk hopes to follow in the footsteps of her mother, Katherine, by becoming a Bella. She watches an a cappella performance by the Treblemakers, now led by Beca's boyfriend Jesse Swanson. Jesse's friend Benjamin "Benji" Applebaum, develops a crush on Emily.
The Bellas learn that German powerhouse group Das Sound Machine (DSM) has replaced them on their victory tour and is favorite to win the Worlds. Beca has secretly started an internship at recording studio Residual Heat, which only Jesse knows (and Fat Amy later discovers).
As the Bellas' suspension means they cannot hold auditions, Emily goes directly to their sorority house and sings her unfinished song "Flashlight". They decide she can join; since she came of her own accord, they technically aren't breaking any rules.
The Bellas meet DSM when the latter performs at a car show. DSM leaders Pieter Krämer and Kommissar mock the Bellas. Both groups are invited to a riff-off with the Treblemakers, the Tone Hangers (composed of former Treblemakers, including previous leader Bumper Allen, with whom Amy is in a casual relationship), and the Green Bay Packers.
The Bellas make it to the final two, but lose to DSM when Emily sings "Flashlight", violating the rule of no original songs. Bumper asks Amy on a traditional date and to officially be his girlfriend; she refuses. At a practice performance for the Worlds, the Bellas' set ends in disaster when their pyrotechnics set fire to Cynthia Rose's hair.
Chloe takes The Bellas on a retreat to rediscover their roots and synchronicity, led by former Bella Aubrey Posen. Beca's internship is revealed, and Beca argues with Chloe over her obsession with the group and accuses the other Bellas of not thinking about their futures. She storms off, only to step into one of the camp's bear traps.
Beca apologizes before being saved by Lilly. The Bellas accept that they will go their separate ways after graduation, and regain harmony by singing "Cups", Beca's audition song for the group.
Amy regrets ending things with Bumper and they reconcile. Beca's boss has been unimpressed with her, so Beca offers to help Emily produce "Flashlight". He likes the result and says he looks forward to working with them.
The senior Bellas graduate and the group heads to Copenhagen for the World Finals. Emily and Benji share a kiss. The Bellas deliver a stripped-down performance ending in a harmonized version of "Flashlight" with Aubrey, Katherine, and other past Bellas joining in. They win. As the senior Bellas leave Barden, they give Emily a belated initiation ceremony, with Amy demonstrating the last tradition: christening the house by sliding down the staircase.
Cast Anna Kendrick as Beca Mitchell, the leader of the Bellas, known for creating their unique modern-day sound. She is an aspiring record producer and has an internship at record label Residual Heat. Rebel Wilson as Patricia "Fat Amy" Hobart, a confident senior Bella who describes herself as "the best singer in Tasmania with teeth." Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Junk, a freshman legacy Bella who is an aspiring songwriter, and Benji's love interest. Her mother Katherine was also a Barden Bella. Brittany Snow as Chloe Beale, a three-time super senior and the enthusiastic co-leader of the Bellas. She has deliberately failed her college diploma three times to remain in the group. Skylar Astin as Jesse Swanson, the leader of the Treblemakers and Beca's boyfriend. Adam DeVine as Bumper Allen, Fat Amy's love interest, former leader of the Treblemakers and current member of the Tone Hangers. After working for John Mayer, he returns to Barden as a security guard. Katey Sagal as Katherine Junk, Emily's mother and a former Bella. Anna Camp as Aubrey Posen, former leader of the Bellas, now runs the Lodge at Fallen Leaves. Alexis Knapp as Stacie Conrad, a senior Bella known for being overly sexual. Hana Mae Lee as Lilly Onakuramara, a senior Bella known for her quiet speaking voice, odd remarks, and beat-boxing. Ben Platt as Benji Applebaum, a senior Treblemaker, Jesse's best friend and Emily's love interest. Ester Dean as Cynthia Rose Adams, a tough senior Bella known for her strong urban vocal skills. Chrissie Fit as Florencia "Flo" Fuentes, a senior Bella who joined the group as a sophomore after coming to Barden from Guatemala. Birgitte Hjort Sørensen as Kommissar, Das Sound Machine's leader. Flula Borg as Pieter Krämer, Das Sound Machine's "second-in-command" Kelley Jakle as Jessica, a senior Bella. Shelley Regner as Ashley, a senior Bella. Reggie Watts, John Hodgman, Jason Jones, and Joe Lo Truglio as Tone Hanger singers John Michael Higgins as John Smith, an a cappella competition commentator. Elizabeth Banks as Gail Abernathy-McKadden-Feinberger, an a cappella competition commentator.
Additionally, Keegan-Michael Key appears as Sammy, Beca's boss at Residual Heat, a rude but successful producer, Shawn Carter Peterson appears as Dax, an intern at Residual Heat, David Cross (credited as Sir Willups Brightlysmore) appears as the Riff-Off host, former Vanderbilt Melodores member Ted Moock appear as the Treblemaker's baritone, Pentatonix members Scott Hoying, Kirstin Maldonado, Mitch Grassi, Avi Kaplan, and Kevin Olusola appear as Team Canada, former Dartmouth Aires member Michael Odokara-Okigbo appear as Team Nigeria, Penn Masala appears as Team India, the Naan Stops, and Filharmonic appears as Team Philippines.
Cameos Green Bay Packers players Clay Matthews, David Bakhtiari, Don Barclay, Josh Sitton, and T. J. Lang, as well as Jordan Rodgers (the brother of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers) make cameos as themselves. Also appearing as themselves are Snoop Dogg, Natalie Morales, Jake Tapper, Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Jimmy Kimmel, Rosie O'Donnell, Rosie Perez, Lucas Grabeel, Nicolle Wallace, Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, and Pharrell Williams. Robin Roberts, C.J. Perry, and Kether Donohue appear as Legacy Bellas during the finale. Additionally, President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Shonda Rhimes briefly appear via archive footage.
Production In December 2012, Skylar Astin revealed that he and Rebel Wilson had meetings with Universal Studios about the potential sequel. In April 2013, it was confirmed that a sequel would be released in 2015. Elizabeth Banks directed the sequel, and Kay Cannon returned as screenwriter. Paul Brooks produced for Gold Circle Films with Banks and Max Handelman producing for Brownstone Productions. Deke Sharon returned as vocal producer, and has a brief cameo as a German reporter.Profile , indystar.com, February 25, 2015; accessed May 16, 2015. As in the first movie, they ran a month of "a cappella boot camp" before filming.
Casting Anna Kendrick and Wilson returned to the cast early in 2014 to play the characters they originated in the first film. Brittany Snow reprised her character. On April 24, Chrissie Fit was added to the cast. On May 1, Hailee Steinfeld was added to the cast, playing a new member of the Barden Bellas. On May 5, Adam DeVine was reported to return in the film. On May 14, Katey Sagal was added to the cast, playing Steinfeld's character's mother. On May 29, Flula Borg was added to the cast, playing the leader of Das Sound Machine. It was confirmed on June 18, 2014, that Christopher Shepard was added to the cast. It was confirmed on June 19, 2014, that Pentatonix would play the role of a rival group to the Barden Bellas.Pentatonix to appear in Pitch Perfect 2 , insidemovies.ew.com; accessed May 16, 2015. 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. On August 24, 2014, it was announced that Penn Masala, the all-male Hindi a cappella group from director Elizabeth Banks' and producer Max Handelman's alma mater The University of Pennsylvania, would be featured as a team from South Asia. On June 25, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen was added to the cast.
Green Bay Packers cameos The Green Bay Packers players were cast after David Bakhtiari reached out to Banks on Twitter. He conveyed how much his teammates enjoyed the first Pitch Perfect and told her they would be willing to do almost anything for a part in the movie. Bakhtiari served as the players representative during the casting period, working to confirm which players would appear and what role they would play. The players were eventually cast as a competing acapella group, a larger role than they were expected. In the scene, the players are part of an acapella group called "The Green Bay Packers" and sing "Bootylicious" by Beyoncé. They performed their own choreography and recorded their actual vocals, ultimately landing on the movie's album. The players part in the movie was not made public until the trailer was released in November 2014, with the players inclusion drawing significant interest in the news. Their inclusion and performance was praised by multiple movie critics.
Filming On May 21, 2014, principal photography began at Louisiana State University (LSU) campus in Baton Rouge.
Music
On December 3, 2014, Mark Mothersbaugh was hired to compose the music for the film. The official soundtrack was released on May 12, 2015. The special edition soundtrack was later released on August 8, 2015.Pitch Perfect 2: Special Edition (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), itunes.apple.com; accessed January 2, 2016.
The original album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, earning 107,000 album-equivalent units (92,000 copies of traditional sales) in the week ending May 17, 2015.
Release The film was released on May 7, 2015, in Australia and New Zealand, and May 15 in the United States and Canada.
Marketing A still from the rehearsals for the film was revealed on May 16, 2014. The poster was released on November 18, 2014, and the trailer came out the following day. A second trailer was aired during Super Bowl XLIX on February 1, 2015.
Home media