60 Fun Facts About Pitch Perfect

Who directed the original Pitch Perfect (2012)?

Jason Moore, a Broadway director known for Avenue Q, made Pitch Perfect his feature debut and drew on his own college years at Northwestern.

Which screenwriter wrote all three Pitch Perfect films?

Kay Cannon, a 30 Rock and New Girl writer, scripted all three films; the franchise carries the credit 'based on characters created by Kay Cannon'.

The first film is loosely based on a non-fiction book about collegiate a cappella by which GQ editor?

Mickey Rapkin's 2008 book, subtitled 'The Quest for Collegiate a Cappella Glory', followed real groups for a season, and two of them loosely inspired the Bellas and their rivals.

What is the name of the fictional college the Bellas attend?

Barden University is the fictional school; Beca's father teaches there, which is why she agreed to try a year of college before chasing a music career.

Which song does Beca perform at her Bellas audition in the first film?

Cups, Anna Kendrick's cup-percussion take on 'When I'm Gone', was her improvised audition; she had no idea the set piece was 16 bars of a Kelly Clarkson hit.

Chloe recruits Beca after hearing her sing which David Guetta hit in the shower?

Titanium, the David Guetta single, is what Beca belts in the shower; her future teammate bursts in and the two harmonise on its chorus, which wins Beca an audition.

What does Aubrey do on stage during the Bellas' disastrous finals performance that opens the film?

Projectile vomits: that is what Aubrey does mid-solo at the ICCA finals, and the disaster leaves the disgraced Bellas rebuilding from scratch at the activities fair.

Fat Amy proudly introduces herself as the best singer from where?

Tasmania is the home she claims: Rebel Wilson's character introduces herself as the best singer in Tasmania 'with teeth'; Wilson won the part after producers saw her in Bridesmaids.

What career does Jesse Swanson dream of in the first movie?

Jesse dreams of being a film Score composer, which is why he keeps pushing The Breakfast Club on Beca and why the finale's use of its theme wins him over.

In Pitch Perfect, Bumper quits his a cappella group after being offered a back-up singer job for which musician?

John Mayer offers Bumper a backing-singer job, and his exit from the group opens a spot for Benji, the magician roommate Bumper had earlier rejected.

Aubrey makes the new Bellas swear never to get romantically involved with which group?

The Treblemakers are Barden's all-male group; two recruits who break the no-Trebles oath are thrown out, and Beca's own flirtation with Treble Jesse becomes the film's central complication.

Which Kelly Clarkson song was the official 16-bar audition piece nobody told Beca about?

'Since U Been Gone' is the set piece: the auditions montage of hopefuls all singing the same Kelly Clarkson song is one of the film's best-remembered gags.

After a disastrous frat-party gig, Chloe confesses to the group that she has what?

Vocal nodes, she admits, are why she cannot sing as before; after surgery to remove them she discovers a newly deep register, which the Bellas use in the finals.

The first Pitch Perfect was shot on the campus of which real university?

Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge stood in for the fictional campus; principal photography ran over the 2011-12 winter, and the sequel returned to the same campus.

What was the production budget of the first Pitch Perfect, which grossed over $115M worldwide?

$17M was the budget; the film opened in third place on its October 2012 wide release before word of mouth carried it past $115 million worldwide.

Which pair of producers/actors appear throughout the series as tactless commentators?

Banks and Higgins play Gail Abernathy-McKadden and John Smith, the commentary duo whose tactless play-by-play was praised by critics across all three films.

Producers cast Adam DeVine as Bumper after seeing him on which TV comedy?

Banks and her husband Max Handelman were 'big Workaholics fans' and thought of him during a casting-season viewing.

Rebel Wilson auditioned for Fat Amy by singing which Lady Gaga song while beating her chest?

'The Edge of Glory' was her audition piece; Wilson pounded her chest through it, and the director said he could barely hear the end of it for laughing.

Where did Anna Kendrick's cup-percussion audition song peak on the Billboard Hot 100?

No. 6 was the cup song's Hot 100 peak, making it Anna Kendrick's first top-10 single; it was certified multi-platinum in the US.

Beca's audition song derives from a 1931 tune by the patriarch of which country dynasty?

The Carters: A. P. Carter wrote 'When I'm Gone' in 1931, a song about death; it took a British duo's cup routine decades later to turn it into a party piece.

Which British act first added the cup-tapping routine to 'When I'm Gone' in a 2009 YouTube video?

Lulu and the Lampshades, Heloise Tunstall-Behrens and Luisa Gerstein, uploaded it as 'You're Gonna Miss Me' in 2009; a 2011 cover by Anna Burden then went viral.

Anna Kendrick first saw the cup-song routine on which website?

Reddit is where Kendrick saw Anna Burden's 2011 cover of the cup routine, which had gone viral there and sparked a wave of copycat cup videos.

The Pitch Perfect soundtrack was the best-selling soundtrack in the United States in which year?

2013 was the year the album topped US soundtrack sales, with 793,000 copies sold a year after the film's release, driven by Kendrick's cup-song hit.

Which real college group was the inspiration for the Bellas' male rivals?

The Tufts Beelzebubs were the model for the Bellas' male rivals; the GQ editor's book followed them for a season, and the Virginia Hullabahoos have a cameo in the film.

Which founder of the real ICCA competition ran the cast's month-long 'a cappella boot camp'?

Sharon and Ed Boyer, both characters in Rapkin's book, arranged the songs and produced the vocals.

Pitch Perfect 2 (2015) was the directorial debut of which cast member?

Elizabeth Banks made her feature directing debut with the sequel, whose $69.2 million opening weekend beat the first film's entire $65 million domestic run.

What did the press dub the Bellas' pants-ripping scandal at the Kennedy Center?

Muffgate is the press's name for the wardrobe malfunction at the Kennedy Center; the scandal gets the Bellas suspended, and only a world title can get them reinstated.

What is the name of the German powerhouse group that replaces the Bellas on their victory tour?

Das Sound Machine, led by Kommissar and Pieter Krämer, is the favourite going into the World Championship and replaces the suspended Bellas on their victory tour.

Hailee Steinfeld joined the cast in the second film as which freshman?

Emily Junk, a legacy whose mother was a Bella, simply turns up at the house and sings because the suspended Bellas cannot hold auditions.

The freshman legacy Bella's mother, herself a former Bella, is played by which actress?

Katey Sagal plays Katherine Junk, who joins the finale performance alongside Aubrey and other past Bellas.

What is the original song the freshman legacy Bella writes, which the group performs at the World Finals?

'Flashlight' is the freshman's original; singing it at the riff-off broke the no-original-songs rule and cost the Bellas the round, but it closes their World Finals set.

The original ballad the Bellas perform at the World Finals was co-written by which pair of pop stars?

Sia and Sam Smith co-wrote the Bellas' World Finals ballad with Christian Guzman; Jessie J recorded the radio single, a top-ten hit in Australia.

Which NFL team's players appear as an a cappella group in the second film's underground riff-off?

Green Bay Packers players, including Clay Matthews and tackle David Bakhtiari, sing at the riff-off; Bakhtiari got them the gig by messaging the director on Twitter.

Which song do the NFL players perform at the second film's riff-off?

Bootylicious, the Destiny's Child hit, is the players' entry in the 'songs about butts' round; Clay Matthews and four offensive linemen recorded their own vocals.

The a cappella World Championship finals in Pitch Perfect 2 are held in which city?

Copenhagen hosts the World Championship; the senior Bellas graduate first, then fly to Denmark and perform last, after their German rivals.

Which comedian hosts the underground riff-off, credited as 'Sir Willups Brightlysmore'?

David Cross plays the eccentric millionaire host, who stages the secret riff-off for a cappella obsessives in his lavish basement.

After his backup-singer stint, what job does Bumper hold at Barden in the second film?

Security guard is Bumper's new campus job after his backing-singer stint ended; he also sings with the Tone Hangers and pursues an on-off romance with a Bella.

Aubrey Posen returns in the second film running which retreat, where the Bellas rediscover their sound?

Fallen Leaves is Aubrey's corporate-retreat lodge; the Bellas go there to rebuild their 'synchronicity' after the pyrotechnics fiasco, sharing a tent and doing trust exercises.

Whose hair catches fire when the Bellas' pyrotechnics go wrong at a practice performance?

Cynthia Rose's hair catches fire during the car-show gig; the disaster convinces the Bellas they have lost their sound and need a retreat.

Pitch Perfect 2 became the highest-grossing musical comedy ever, overtaking which film?

School of Rock (2003) held the musical-comedy record until the sequel made $287.5 million worldwide, passing the first film's entire total within its first week.

Who composed the score for Pitch Perfect 2?

Mark Mothersbaugh, the Devo co-founder turned film composer, scored the sequel; its song soundtrack, separate from his score, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.

Who directed Pitch Perfect 3 (2017)?

Trish Sie, who directed OK Go's treadmill video 'Here It Goes Again' and Step Up All In, took over the third film.

Who co-wrote Pitch Perfect 3 with the franchise's original screenwriter?

Mike White, later creator of The White Lotus, co-wrote the third film's script, which sends the graduated Bellas on a USO tour for one last performance.

Which artist headlines the USO tour the reunited Bellas join in the third film?

DJ Khaled plays himself as the tour headliner and ends up asking Beca to open for him without the rest of the group.

John Lithgow plays Fergus, the estranged criminal father of which Bella?

Fat Amy is Fergus's daughter; he is after the $180 million offshore account her mother set up, and ends up kidnapping the Bellas onto his yacht.

Ruby Rose plays Calamity, lead singer of which rival band on the USO tour?

Evermoist, fronted by Calamity, is the rock band the Bellas compete against, along with Saddle Up and Young Sparrow, for the chance to open for the headliner.

Which Britney Spears song do the Bellas perform on the yacht as a distraction while a bomb is planted?

'Toxic' is the distraction number on Fergus's yacht; the bomb goes off after the Bellas jump clear, and Fergus is arrested.

The Bellas' final performance in Pitch Perfect 3 is a cover of which George Michael song?

'Freedom! '90' is the send-off: Beca opens solo for the headliner, then brings the whole group on stage to join her on the George Michael cover.

Pitch Perfect 3 was filmed in Atlanta, Cádiz in Spain, and which French city?

Nice, on the Côte d'Azur, hosted the yacht and waterfront scenes; principal photography ran from January to April 2017.

The spin-off series Bumper in Berlin premiered in 2022 on which streaming service?

Peacock launched Bumper in Berlin in November 2022 with Adam DeVine reprising the role; a second season was ordered and later cancelled in 2023.

In Bumper in Berlin, Sarah Hyland plays which secret songwriter?

Heidi, Pieter Krämer's assistant and an American army brat, secretly writes the songs; Jameela Jamil plays Pieter's ex, Gisela.

Who plays Benji, Jesse's magic-obsessed roommate, in the first two Pitch Perfect films?

Ben Platt plays Benji Applebaum, Jesse's magic-obsessed roommate; Platt went on to win the 2017 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for Dear Evan Hansen.

Kelley Jakle (Jessica) was cast as a 'ringer' because she was a two-time ICCA champion with which real group?

SoCal VoCals, the University of Southern California group, took two ICCA titles with Kelley Jakle in the lineup; she had also sung on two seasons of The Sing-Off.

Which comedian plays Sammy, Beca's rude boss at the Residual Heat record label?

Keegan-Michael Key plays Sammy, the dismissive producer at Residual Heat; Snoop Dogg turns up at the studio as himself, recording Christmas songs.

Which Bella deliberately failed her college classes three times so she could stay in the group?

Chloe deliberately failed Russian literature three times to stay in college, and by the second film she is a 'three-time super senior' co-leading the Bellas with Beca.

Which real college a cappella group was the loose inspiration for the Barden Bellas?

The Virginia Hullabahoos, also followed in Mickey Rapkin's book, get a cameo in the film.

Producers described Jesse as a young version of which actor when casting Skylar Astin?

John Cusack was the model: Max Handelman wanted 'someone who was kind of awkward but not a geek, but not so cool that you're not rooting for him'.

Which two films beat Pitch Perfect to the top spots on its wide-release opening weekend in October 2012?

Taken 2 and Hotel Transylvania took the top two spots; Pitch Perfect opened at number three with $14.8 million, drawing an audience that was 81 percent female.

Which Miss America 2015 winner performed 'Happy' with cup percussion in the style of Beca's audition?

Kira Kazantsev, Miss New York, won Miss America 2015 after performing Pharrell's 'Happy' with a red cup in the talent round, a routine lifted straight from the film.

Roger Ebert gave Pitch Perfect two stars, saying rival a cappella groups were more exciting than what?

Dueling string quartets were Ebert's sardonic comparison; he allowed that the quartets 'would be performing better material', though he praised Rebel Wilson as 'ebullient, unstoppable and raucous'.