Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin, a comedy series with Adam Devine and Sarah Hyland in the cast, premieres on Peacock November 23. Elizabeth Banks is an executive producer.
Ten years after college, Bumper Allen, the “vocal villain” from the film franchise, ditches his life as a security guard and moves to Germany to make his dream of becoming a pop star come true.
Jameela Jamil and Flula Borg are also in the cast.
Peacock went straight to series on the project. Three movies make up the Pitch Perfect franchise, which is based on a book by Mickey Rapkin, about college-level a capella singing competitions.
Universal Television is producing the series. Banks and Max Handelman (Brownstone Productions) executive produce, along with Paul Brooks and Scott Neimeyer (Gold Circle Films), and Adam Devine and Megan Amram.
Brownstone and Gold Circle produced all three Pitch Perfect movies.
When NBCU announced the series, Susan Rovner, chairman of entertainment content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, called the project "another example of the unmatched synergy NBCUniversal [expanding] upon with our wide-ranging library of IP."
A Variety review of the series was not kind. "Despite all their best efforts, and filming on location in a vibrant city like Berlin, the series struggles to sell its premise: that Devine’s Bumper Allen is such a compelling performer that watching him follow his dream will be enough. Instead, whether or not you’re already a fan of Pitch Perfect, Bumper in Berlin is mostly just confusing. But if the goal was to bring a show with some name recognition to its streaming service (as is the brief for basically every other television show these days), well, mission accomplished."
The movies grossed nearly $600 million at the worldwide box office. ■
