‘Pitch Perfect 2’ Soundtrack Debuts At Top Of Billboard Album Chart

The Pitch Perfect 2 movie has already outdone its predecessor, and the sequel only opened last Friday, May 15. The soundtrack from the original Pitch Perfect peaked at a respectable No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. Pitch Perfect 2‘s soundtrack has already overtaken that.

Pitch Perfect 2 debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. This follows the success of the film. As reported by the Inquisitr, Pitch Perfect 2 was the top movie in its opening weekend, taking in over $70 million in box office ticket sales for the United States and Canada. The original Pitch Perfect took in $65 million its entire run. Pitch Perfect 2 also did respectably overseas, taking third place globally, just behind Avengers: Age of Ultron and Mad Max: Fury Road.

But this soundtrack success isn’t just a Pitch Perfect phenomenon. Soundtracks are doing exceptionally well on the music charts these days, as explained by Billboard.

“Pitch Perfect 2 is the third soundtrack to reach No. 1 in 2015, following the companion albums from Fox TV’s Empire series and the theatrical film Furious 7. That’s the most No. 1 soundtracks in a calendar year since 2010, when three Glee albums topped the list.”

The soundtrack was carefully pieced together on the part of much deliberation from the producers. In the movie, the numbers the characters sing switch back and forth so quickly. It required a lot of skill on the part of the performers and technical crew to make it work.

Pitch Perfect 2 music producer Julia Michels talked to Time about how she made the song selections for the film’s star a cappella group, the Bellas.

“For us, it’s in the arrangements and the song choices, not so much what they’re singing. If the Bellas are tight and their performance is supposed to be amazing, we look for songs that are exciting and melodic. In scenes when they’re supposed to fall apart, we might look for songs that are a little more discordant.”

We have yet to see which singles will stand out on the soundtrack. The original Pitch Perfect had “Cups,” a reworking of the old time country song “When I’m Gone.” The Pitch Perfect version was sweet and cute enough to reach No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Pitch Perfect 2 singles “Flashlight” and “Crazy Youngsters” don’t quite match the innocent charm of Cups, according to some fans. Regardless, the runaway success of Pitch Perfect 2 will have people looking for what they missed from the original film and soundtrack.

[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]