Mamma Mia! is a franchise no-one expected in the film business. The first film, based on the ABBA musical from Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, was a major hit. It was then followed by a similarly successful sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again – but will there be a third film?
Will there be a Mamma Mia 3?
While Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson may be behind the songs in Mamma Mia!, someone else brought everything together to make the musical.
Judy Craymer, who worked as a production assistant on their musical with Tim Rice, Chess, spent years convincing them to give her the rights to some of their songs for use in a musical.
After finally getting the go-ahead, Mamma Mia! was born as a stage production, and has been wildly successful ever since.
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But will there be a third movie?
While Björn and Benny know a thing or two about the music, it is Judy who is the person to ask about the future of the film franchise.
Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2020, she admitted there was a third film planned, but coronavirus caused some problems in getting things off the ground.
She said: “I was meant to have been getting on with that, in my head, during these months. But then I got hit with Covid fog.
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However, given the strong power of Mamma Mia! as a pick me up, which she also speaks of given its continued success after devastating events like 9/11, it may be a new movie is exactly what fans need.
The first film followed the same story as the original stage show, where a young girl is about to get married and returns to her home, a Greek island, to see her family and, more importantly, find out who her father is.
The second film shows the same girl about to have a baby, as she considers life without her mother, while the audience is also introduced to her mother as a young girl, meeting with these good-looking men and choosing to live her life on the island.
Given Cher made an appearance in the second film, it could be Judy could turn to some of her classic tunes to make the ultimate jukebox musical, combining ABBA and Cher’s music.
While that seems unlikely, it is hopeful the new film will come out, but it may take as long as the gap between the first and second films, which was 10 years, to make its way into the cinema.
