Now that the MAMMA MIA! national ‘Farewell Tour’ made its “final” stop at Starlight Theatre in Kansas City, it’s time for me to reflect…
For me, it all started in 200o when the popular play made its US tour before hitting Broadway where it remained on stage for 14 years.
Since then the musical comedy/love story based on the music of ABBA has set box office records around the globe.
And if memory serves me correctly the play has been on stage in Kansas City half a dozen times.
Six years after its Broadway debut, Universal Studios turned the play into one of the most successful big screen musicals EVER.
With Meryl Streep in the lead MAMMA MIA! racked in $144 million in ticket sales domestically.
But the international market for the film REALLY went wild producing another $466 million.
All in that’s $610 million!
By comparison GREASE did $395 million. LES MISERABLE produced $442 million. CHICAGO took in $307 million and LA LA LAND ended up with $444 million.
Oops, almost forgot. Disney’s 2017 BEAUTY AND THE BEAST beat them all with $1.23 billion in worldwide ticket sales.
Fast forward to today and the news that executive producers Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have finally green-lighted a MAMMA MIA! sequel to their 2008 hit movie.
Everything that I’ve been picking up about it so far would suggest that the angle here would be on Meryl’s Streep’s Donna character and her three affairs BEFORE Amanda Seyfried’s Greek wedding. Or possibly a continuation of the story. I’ve heard it both ways.
The sequel will be called MAMMA MIA: HERE I GO AGAIN! and will again feature plenty of Abba songs, many of which were left off of the original soundtrack—plus a few of the (very) favorites from the original.
What’s more, most of the original cast (including Meryl Streep) has been re-signed for the sequel.
Universal Pictures has also already picked the release date for the film!
It will be July 20—-2018, that is.
But wait!
The Star’s Sharon Hoffman reported that Overland Park’s New Theatre will be bringing what she termed the “frothy” musical to the small stage next year July 12 to September 23rd.
Not sure what “frothy” means?
Dictionary.com’s definition: “unsubstantial; trifling; shallow; empty.”
Can’t wait!
i might be wrong, but i don’t think tom hanks has ever done a sequel, right? aside from the Toy Story films, which i place in a different category since he’s not actually on-screen. don’t think meryl streep has either, has she?
if true, i’d say that’s bigger news than the sequel itself when two top A-list stars sign on for round two.
Good points!
Da Vinci Code had 2 sequels – Angels & Demons, and Inferno. Hanks played the same character in all.