A $69 million dollar weekend opening for a music comedy sequel is rare, but it happened to Pitch Perfect 2, and with the film already grossing over $250 million worldwide, Universal Pictures has already decided that we need to be pitch slapped once more. The studio has announced that there will be a Pitch Perfect 3, with Kay Cannon – screenwriter of the first two movies – in talks to return to write the script for the third.

Rich Moore who directed the first Pitch Perfect film did not return to direct its sequel. He was replaced by Elizabeth Banks, who also served as a producer on the first film. It is unclear if she will return to direct Pitch Perfect 3.

Here’s what Banks said at the Pitch Perfect 2 press conference a while back:

Now things could obviously change, and a lot of that will have to do with how much money Universal will be wiling to shell out.

Minor spoiler alert, most if not all of the Barden Bellas we saw in the first film have graduated. It was rumored that when Hailee Steinfeld joined the cast, she would be the one to lead subsequent sequels. Because the studios did not anticipate the films being such a hit, the options that were inked did not extend to a third film. As a result the studios made sure to lock Steinfeld in a deal after the success of the first film.

Should Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson return, they would be receiving a big raise in their paycheck. The two received $2 million each for their roles in the latest film, a huge increase from the low six-figure deal that Kendrick got and the less than $100,000 paycheck that Wilson got for the first movie. No offers have been made as of yet, but there is no reason for the studio not to at least make the two some sort of offer, considering that they – along with Anna Camp, Brittany Snow, Ester Dean, Hana Mae Lee, Skylar Astin, Ben Platt, and Adam Devine – are the stars who helped launch the franchise to where it is today.

[Source: THR]