"Mamma Mia!" — the film based on the long-running Broadway musical of the same name — is scheduled to arrive in theatres July 18, 2008, according to the Universal Pictures website.
The movie musical stars Academy Award winner Meryl Streep in the role of Donna Sheridan. The cast also features Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried, Colin Firth, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Stellan Skarsgard and Dominic Cooper. The film is being directed by Phyllida Lloyd, who is making her feature-film debut. Lloyd helmed both the London and Broadway mountings of the international hit musical.
London's Daily Mail recently reported that three songs from the stage show have been dropped: "Thank You For the Music," "Under Attack" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You." The movie, however, introduces another ABBA song to book and screenplay writer Catherine Johnson's storyline, "When All Is Said and Done."
Based on the back catalogue of 70s pop group ABBA, Johnson's plot tells the story of bride-to-be Sophie Sheridan, who hopes to discover her father's identity on the eve of her wedding. She brings three men from her mother Donna's past back to the Greek island they last visited 20 years previously.
The show and film features music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. Since the original London production opened in 1999, the musical has grossed over $2 billion worldwide. The film, according to the Universal website, is described as such: "An independent, single mother who owns a small hotel on an idyllic Greek island, Donna (Streep) is about to let go of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), the spirited daughter she's raised alone. For Sophie's wedding, Donna has invited her two lifelong best girlfriends-practical and no-nonsense Rosie (Julie Walters) and wealthy, multi-divorcee Tanya (Christine Baranski)-from her one-time backing band, Donna and the Dynamos. But Sophie has secretly invited three guests of her own.
"On a quest to find the identity of her father to walk her down the aisle, she brings back three men from Donna's past to the Mediterranean paradise they visited 20 years earlier. Over 24 chaotic, magical hours, new love will bloom and old romances will be rekindled on this lush island full of possibilities."
