'Pitch Perfect 3' Hits A Low Note In The Franchise's Box Office Performance

Releasing a third Pitch Perfect movie is like singing to a choir — its built-in audience will propel the movie to the top of the box office charts no matter the Rotten Tomatoes score.

And with Pitch Perfect 3's $30.3 million international haul pushing the franchise past the $500 million mark worldwide, it proves that these Bellas still have it. But despite the impressive global numbers, the third and final Pitch Perfect film is down considerably from the second movie at the box office. Aca-not awesome.

Pitch Perfect 3 grossed $67.5 million domestically in its first 12 days, and $30.3 million internationally, according to Variety. While these numbers were enough to allow Universal bragging rights about the overall achievements of the series, the final film doesn't quite leave the series on a high note. The first Pitch Perfect was a surprise hit in 2012, raking in $65 million on a $17 million budget, and Pitch Perfect 2 went on to score $184.3 million at the domestic box office. The new film will sail past the gross of the first film, but it's unlikely to come close to the numbers generated by the sequel. And its costly budget coupled with a lesser box office performance makes Pitch Perfect 3 the lowest-performing movie of the franchise.

Three just isn't quite the charm for the Pitch Perfect series, which feels more and more like it is refusing to let go of its glory days. How apt then, that the exact plot of Pitch Perfect 3 follows the Barden Bellas three years after the events of Pitch Perfect 2, with the girls leaving their dead-end jobs to pursue fame as an a capella group on a world tour. But they quickly find themselves in over their heads, competing against bands and artists who would never touch a cover song.

However, there is still time for a last sonata for Pitch Perfect 3, which is set to cross $100 million at the global box office and will open in eight additional markets this week including Australia and Italy. It's clear that fans are gladly ignoring the critical reviews of the film, which are the lowest of the franchise at 31% on Rotten Tomatoes, compared with 80% for 2012's Pitch Perfect and 65% for Pitch Perfect 2.

Directed by Trish Sie, Pitch Perfect 3 stars Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, Hana Mae Lee, and Ester Dean reprising their roles alongside newcomers Ruby Rose and DJ Khaled as himself.

After the highs of winning the world championships, the Bellas find themselves split apart and discovering there aren't job prospects for making music with your mouth. But when they get the chance to reunite for an overseas USO tour, this group of awesome nerds will come together to make some music, and some questionable decisions, one last time.