Elizabeth Banks has announced that she will no longer direct Pitch Perfect 3, after delays in the films development forced filming dates to be pushed back. The actress, known for roles such as Effie Trinket in the successful Hunger Games Franchise, stepped up to direct the second film after a minor role as competition commentator Gail in the first film; Pitch Perfect 2 marked Banks’ directorial debut and made almost 300 million dollars on a 30 million dollar budget, as well as receiving a warm reception from critics, prompting Universal Pictures to ask Banks back to direct the third film, which will see stars Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson and Brittany Snow return.
Commenting on the reason for her departure, Banks said “We have been in development and it took longer than we thought, and I needed to shoot another movie in the summer. If we pushed into fall it bumped up against my parental responsibilities, which made me feel uncomfortable.”
Despite vacating the directors chair, Banks will reprise her role as Gail for a third time, and will stay on as a producer for the film, even going as far to help find her own replacement.
The film, originally slated for a July 2017 release, has been pushed back to December 2017, which means will see it compete with the 8th Star Wars film for the box office top spot, and no doubt bring some much needed comic relief to Hollywoods “Award Season”.
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