'Pitch Perfect 3': What we know about the sequel

A third installment in the “Pitch Perfect” series could be happening.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, “Pitch Perfect” series writer Kay Cannon is involved in negotiations to return for a third film. In addition to writing the screenplays for the first two “Pitch” films, Cannon has served as a writer on the NBC sitcom “30 Rock” and on Fox’s “New Girl.” 

It’s currently unknown how many cast members would return, though according to the website Collider, “Pitch Perfect 2” actress Hailee Steinfeld is under contract for multiple films. Her inclusion in a new movie would make sense as many of the other “Pitch” characters were seniors in college in “Pitch Perfect 2,” while her character was younger.

“Pitch Perfect 2,” which was released on May 15, became a big financial success and is currently the seventh-highest-grossing movie of 2015 ahead of such big titles as “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “The Divergent Series: Insurgent,” and “Tomorrowland.”

When a third film is being discussed, we’re in not just sequel but franchise territory, although as a franchise the “Pitch Perfect” movies are truly unusual. They’re successful movies that feature almost entirely female main characters (compare that with the Avengers, with one woman character) and they’re films that don’t come with name recognition attached – the first movie is based on a book, but it’s the fairly unknown title “Pitch Perfect” by Mickey Rapkin, a nonfiction book about a cappella groups on college campuses. 

The movies certainly look far different from the other successful franchises in Hollywood. According to Box Office Mojo, the highest-grossing franchise is the Marvel universe, inspired by the comic books released by that publisher. Behind it is “Harry Potter,” which was based on the phenomenally successful book series of the same name. The movies that follow behind it, “James Bond” and “Batman,” were drawn from book and comic book series, respectively, with "Star Wars" as an exception.

Before the first “Pitch” movie came out, industry watchers questioned whether only women would come out for the film. “The movie has an appealing cast including Anna Kendrick and 'Bridesmaids' scene-stealer Rebel Wilson, and should do a decent job tapping in to the younger female audience that's made 'Glee' such a hit,” Box Office Mojo writer Ray Suber wrote before the release of the first movie.

But the success of the first movie and “Pitch Perfect 2” showed that that "younger female audience" could make a movie a hit. “Pitch Perfect 2” topped “Mad Max: Fury Road” at the box office for its opening weekend, grossing more than the first movie made in its entire domestic run, and it did it with an audience that, according to studio Universal, was 75 percent female and 62 percent under 25. 

Moving forward, the sky’s the limit for the “Pitch” franchise.