Aca-casting!. It appears that Academy Award-nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld will join Pitch Perfect 2, the sequel to the surprise 2012 musical comedy hit set within the a cappella collegiate clique. If the news holds true, Steinfeld will co-star opposite actresses Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson and Brittany Snow, all three of whom have confirmed they will return the roles they played in the first film. Actress and producer of the original film Elizabeth Banks will direct the second outing. The first film, which cost only $17 million dollars to make, began a bonafide sleeper hit when it originally opened in early fall of 2012, earning over $100 million worldwide and spawning a hugely popular soundtrack.
Steinfeld marks the highest profile name added to ensemble and to a very busy building filmography the True Grit actress has accrued in the recent years. Currently she can be seen in the Kristen Wiig drama Hateship Loveship and next will co-star in the musical comedy Begin Again, a sleeper hit of last years’ Toronto Film Festival which focuses on a washed musical executive and the young discovery he hopes will rebuild his career – Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightly co-star in the summer release. Perhaps that film hass provided a subtle training ground for the a cappella machinations surely in store in Pitch Perfect 2. Steinfeld will also co-star in Tommy Lee Jones’ The Homesman opposite Hilary Swank and Meryl Streep – which will premiere in competition at next month’s Cannes Film Festival – and will follow that with a role in the crime drama Term Life opposite Vince Vaughn.
While plot specifics on Pitch Perfect 2 are still under wraps, Kay Cannon (30 Rock) returns as the screenwriter to the sequel that Universal Pictures will release on May 15, 2015. The summer release date itself bodes a brash bit of confidence on the part of the distributor– the film is slated to open shortly after The Avengers: Age of Ultron and the same week as Mad Max: Fury Road.
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