Sixteen years after the release of the original, the producer of the original Mamma Mia! movie confirmed recently that despite delays, a third installment is well on the way.
The first movie, which was shot in Greece on Skopelos, Skiathos, and Pelion, was directed by Phyllida Lloyd.
The second film of 2018, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, was shot in Croatia and directed by Ol Parker. It did not return to film on the Greek islands because of complications related to Greek bureaucracy.
The producers moved the filming location to a remote Croatian island although the story was still based in Greece. The bad press for Greece at least prompted the Greek Film Commission to streamline the process of filming in Greece and on the Greek islands.
In a recent interview with Variety, producer Judy Craymer revealed that Mamma Mia! 3 is in the works, but some people may need a little more convincing.
“I’m sure [the third movie] will happen,” said Craymer, adding that past Mamma Mia! movies also took time to come to fruition. “I’m in the privileged position that I have Universal Studios wanting to do it, who I love working with, and I have a storyline.”
“Bjorn and Benny [ABBA] always take a certain amount of convincing,” she revealed. “I don’t know how much more convincing they’re gonna have because everybody wants another film.”
In August, Mamma Mia star Christine Baranski shared an exciting update on the anticipated third film.
Baranski, who plays Tanya Chesham-Leigh in the films, revealed that she recently caught up with Craymer to discuss the threequel’s plot.
“I was in London with Judy Craymer at our favourite watering hole, she is planning Mamma Mia 3. She gave me the narrative plotline of how it’s going to happen. That’s all I can say!” she told The Hollywood Reporter.
Will Mamma Mia! 3 return to Greece?
The original Mamma Mia! movie, starring Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried as Donna and Sophie—the unconventional mother-daughter duo living on Skopelos, Greece—is a fun and vibrant romantic-comedy slash jukebox musical adapted from the theater production of the same name created in 1999.
Way back in 2008, Craymer convinced the Swedish pop supergroup ABBA to allow her musical to utilize their back catalog, sampling songs such as “Take A Chance On Me,” “Knowing Me Knowing You,” and “Dancing Queen.”
The band also agreed to have their tracks played in the 2018 sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, starring Baby Driver’s Lily James as a young Donna.
Craymer later said that the team took a break in creating Mamma Mia! 3, as she had a Mamma Mia-themed singing competition show to produce, and the band also had their hands full with their latest virtual reality residential in London, ABBA Voyage.
But despite delays, the producer attests the third act will happen, stating: “We’ve done the television show and now maybe I’ll focus on the movie.”
For now, it is uncertain when the new movie will hit screens, but if Craymer can convince ABBA to share their musical talents once more, the sequel will be here before we know it.
