Universal has moved the premiere date of "Pitch Perfect 3" yet again. After bumping it to an earlier summer release for 2017, the movie will now be set for a late December 2017 release. This change has affected one actress in a major way as Elizabeth Banks declares she's dropping out.
Variety reports that Elizabeth Banks will no longer be directing the third "Pitch Perfect" movie, but she will still be very much playing her role as Gail, the commentator at the a Capella competitions. She will also remain as producer of "Pitch Perfect 3," which will now be debuting on Dec. 22, 2017, instead of July 21, 2017, on the big screen.
The reason for moving "Pitch Perfect 3" from summer to the Christmas holidays is due to scheduling and counter programming. The Hollywood Reporter cites that Universal believes there's overcrowding in the summer slate, thus it changed the schedules. The studio also believes "Pitch Perfect 3" should present a good choice for holiday moviegoers who want to watch something else besides "Star Wars: Rogue One," which also comes out December 2017.
Elizabeth Banks just explained why she dropped out of directing Pitch Perfect 3 https://t.co/lyZDXlhK0t pic.twitter.com/XSHyukZHis
— Cosmopolitan UK (@CosmopolitanUK) June 5, 2016
But moving the dates around has affected Elizabeth Banks' personal schedule, so she has chosen not to direct "Pitch Perfect 3" anymore. She told People that the development of the movie took longer than planned, thus pushing production dates. However, the actress already has a commitment to shoot a different movie this summer and she cannot shoot in the fall because of her kids.
As a mom, she said she won't be comfortable adjusting her work schedule, while sacrificing her parenting duties. Elizabeth Banks has a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old with husband Max Handelman, who is also the producer of "Pitch Perfect 3."
"Pitch Perfect 3" will bring back its original stars, Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson and Brittany Snow. The movie has also retained Kay Cannon as the screenwriter, but it's not known who will sit on the director's chair to replace Elizabeth Banks. It's also not yet known what the story of the third movie will be about, but Banks said that they want to make sure "Pitch Perfect 3" would be "the absolute best movie," per Entertainment Weekly.
