Elizabeth Banks said today that she exited as director of Universal’s Pitch Perfect 3 because delayed shooting – the film is now set for a Christmas 2017 instead of Summer 2017 release – would interfere with her duties as a parent. “We’ve been in development and it’s taking longer than we thought,” said the actress, Pitch Perfect franchise producer and director of last year’s Pitch Perfect 2. The comments came during a panel at the Producers Guild of America’s 8th annual Produced By conference at Sony Pictures.
“I thought I was going to direct the movie in the summer,” said Banks, who has two children. “It was really important to me to direct the movie in summer because if we pushed into fall it bumped up against my parental responsibilities, which made me feel uncomfortable.”
Banks’ husband and Brownstone Productions partner Max Handelman, also interviewed on panel, noted that the movie’s newly announced Dec. 22 2017 release date was Universal’s call, and that 2015’s Pitch Perfect 2 had originally been intended for a holiday release.
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“The summer of 2017 feels incredibly crowded,” he said.
Banks also expressed confidence in the threequel. “I think it’s going to be a great infusion of energy in the third film,” she said, adding that coming up with a good – and not repetitive – storyline was a challenge.
Also during the panel, Banks said a focus on female-driven content propels her work as both a producer and director.
“I like female characters. I can’t in my soul develop female characters that are arm candy or incidental,” she said, later revealing that she “plopped” herself next to Steven Spielberg when she starred in his 2002 film Catch Me If You Can to observe his directing style.
“When you get in this business as an actress, if you’re ambitious, the roles are not that interesting after a while. You play a lot of girlfriends and wives,” she said. “I wanted more control over how to tell stories.”
Good for you her. I know many parents who wish they’d chosen family first.
You’re buying this concocted story? LOL.
She’s a class act.
Fanny, it’s clear you haven’t worked with her.
Elizabeth Banks has her priorities straight, children first! People are criticle of Moms and Dads who put marriage and children before the almighty dollar. I bet her parents are proud!
Wrong. People are criticize of MOMS, not Dads. Her husband could have stayed home and made the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the kids.
“Banks’ husband and Brownstone Productions partner Max Handelman, also interviewed on panel, noted that the movie’s newly announced Dec. 22 2017 release date was Universal’s call, and that 2015’s Pitch Perfect 2 had originally been intended for a holiday release.”
It appears that he speaks for her. And I’m pretty sure that he’s not feeling the need to stay home and understand that her directing career is important to her. Oh yeahhhh, I’m pretty damn sure that he’s not feeling any guilt about his lack of “parental responsibility”. But then, he’s a man — kids don’t need their fathers, right?
Please….let’s not pretend that Elizabeth had anything to do with the success with Pitch Perfect 2. You could have replaced her with anyone and Pitch Perfect 2 still would have been a hit. Her directing credits prior to Pitch Perfect 2 was Movie 43.
And this is why there are few women directors in Hollywood. Sorry, someone has to say it and it might as well be me.
This is bs story! She most likely had “creative differences” with the studio or actors and left the project or she wanted to act in a film when this film was scheduled to be in production
Oh well of course you would know!
Toldja. Women are not men. No need to apologize for being a woman.
Women were railroaded by the feminist brainwash that a female has no value unless she has a career, same as a man.
seems to me like the shooting could still happen in the summer, with a longer time for editing and post production.
It’s scheduled to start shooting in late August. Rebel Wilson will be on the West End until then. So technically the movie would start shooting in the summer, but her kids would be going back to school a week or two after shooting started. She would be in Baton Rouge (if they shoot where they shot the first two,) while her kids were in LA going to school.
There’s rumors that there was a problem between actors and Elizabeth, but I don’t believe it. If she has any problems it’s with the studio whose changed their minds about when the movie will come out three times now. It sounds like the studio wants to be more involved in the production than they have been in the other two movies.
It is great that she is setting these kinds of boundaries. No one, man or woman, should be forced to choose between their family and their career.
But that’s what she did. She chose between her family and her career. Did you not read the story? She had to give one up for the other.
Yeah, turnitup, but that’s not what really happened. That’s the PR spin.
PP2 Was a Horrible Movie. Get a REAL Filmmaker.
Translation: She wants to give the nanny a few weeks off as a bonus.