Mamma Mia! (film)

Plot

On the Greek island of Kalokairi, bride-to-be Sophie Sheridan reveals to her bridesmaids that she has secretly invited three men to her wedding without telling her mother, Donna. They are the men that her mother's diary reveals could have been her father: Irish-American architect Sam Carmichael, Swedish adventurer and writer Bill Anderson, and British banker Harry Bright. She dreams of being given away by her father at her wedding, and believes that after she spends time with them she will know which is her father.

Sophie's mother Donna, who owns a villa, is ecstatic to reunite with her former Dynamos bandmates, wisecracking author Rosie Mulligan and wealthy multiple divorcée Tanya Chesham-Leigh, and reveals her bafflement at her daughter's desire to get married. Donna shows off the villa to Rosie and Tanya. The three men arrive and Sophie smuggles them to their room, explaining that she and not her mother sent the invitations. She begs them to hide so Donna will be surprised by the old friends of whom she "so often" favourably speaks. They overhear Donna working and swear not to reveal Sophie's secret.

Donna spies them and is dumbfounded to find herself facing former lovers, demanding they leave. She confides in Tanya and Rosie that she does not know who fathered Sophie. Tanya and Rosie rally her spirits by getting her to dance with the female staff and islanders. Sophie finds the men aboard Bill's yacht, and they sail around Kalokairi, telling stories of Donna's carefree youth. Sophie plans to tell her fiancé Sky about her ploy, but loses her nerve. Sky and Sophie sing to each other, but Sky is abducted for his bachelor party.

At Sophie's bachelorette party, Donna, Tanya, and Rosie perform. When Sam, Bill, and Harry arrive, Sophie decides to talk with each of them alone. While her girlfriends dance with the men, Sophie learns from Bill that Donna received the money for her villa from his great-aunt Sofia. Sophie guesses she must be Sofia's namesake. She asks him to give her away and keep their secret until the wedding. Sophie's happiness is short-lived as Sam and Harry each tell her they are her father and will give her away. Sophie cannot tell them the truth and, overwhelmed by the consequences of her actions, faints.

In the morning, Rosie and Tanya assure Donna they will take care of the men. Bill and Harry intend to confide in each other, but Rosie interrupts them. Donna confronts Sophie, believing Sophie wants the wedding stopped. Sophie says that all she wants is to avoid her mother's mistakes. Sam accosts Donna, concerned about Sophie getting married so young. Donna confronts him and they realize they still have feelings for each other. Tanya and young Pepper continue flirtations from the previous night. Sophie confesses to Sky and asks for his help. He reacts angrily to Sophie's deception and she turns to her mother for support. As Donna helps her daughter dress for the wedding, their rift is healed and Donna reminisces about Sophie's childhood. Donna admits her mother disowned her when she became pregnant. Sophie asks Donna to give her away. As the bridal party walks to the chapel, Sam intercepts Donna, who reveals the pain she felt over losing him.

Sophie and Donna walk down the aisle as the band plays. Donna tells Sophie her father could be any of the three men. Sam reveals that while he left Donna to get married, he did not go through with it, but returned to find Donna with another man. The men agree to be one-third of a father for Sophie. She tells Sky they should postpone their wedding and travel the world. Sam proposes to Donna. She accepts and they are married. At the reception, Sam sings to Donna, which prompts Rosie to make a play for Bill. The couples proclaim their love. Sophie and Sky sail away.

Cast

Musical numbers

The following songs are included in the film, of which 18 (including a hidden track) are on the soundtrack album, and 3 are excluded:

1. "I Have a Dream" – Sophie
2. "Honey, Honey" – Sophie, Ali and Lisa
3. "Money, Money, Money" – Donna, Tanya, Rosie and Company
4. "Mamma Mia" – Donna, Sophie, Ali, Lisa and Greek Chorus
5. "Chiquitita" – Rosie, Tanya and Donna
6. "Dancing Queen" – Tanya, Rosie, Donna and Company
7. "Our Last Summer" – Harry, Bill, Sam and Sophie
8. "Lay All Your Love on Me" – Sky, Sophie, Sky's Bachelor party friends.
9. "Super Trouper" – Donna, Tanya and Rosie
10. "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" – Sophie, Donna, Tanya, Rosie, Ali, Lisa and Greek Chorus
11. "Voulez-Vous" – Donna, Sam, Tanya, Rosie, Harry, Bill, Sky, Ali, Lisa and Pepper
12. "The Name of the Game" – Sophie (deleted scene)
13. "SOS" – Sam, Donna and Greek Chorus
14. "Does Your Mother Know?" – Tanya, Pepper, Lisa, Guys and Girls
15. "Slipping Through My Fingers" – Donna and Sophie
16. "The Winner Takes It All" – Donna
17. "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" – Sam, Donna and Company
18. "When All Is Said and Done" – Sam, Donna and Company
19. "Take a Chance on Me" – Rosie, Bill, Tanya, Pepper, Harry and Company
20. "Mamma Mia!" (Reprise) – Company
21. "I Have a Dream" (Reprise) – Sophie
22. "Dancing Queen" (Reprise) – Donna, Rosie and Tanya
23. "Waterloo" – Donna, Rosie, Tanya, Sam, Bill, Harry, Sky and Sophie
24. "Thank You for the Music" – Sophie

The Musical Director of the film was Grammy-Award winner Martin Lowe, a graduate of the University of Hull.

Production

Most of the outdoor scenes were filmed on location at the small Greek island of Skopelos (during August/September 2007), and the seaside hamlet of Damouchari in the Pelion area of Greece. On Skopelos, Kastani beach on the south west coast was the film's main location site. The producers built a beach bar and jetty along the beach, but removed both set pieces after production wrapped. A complete set for Donna's Greek villa was built at the 007 stage at Pinewood Studios and most of the film was shot there. Real trees were utilised for the set, watered daily through an automated watering system and given access to daylight in order to keep them growing.

The part of the film where Brosnan's character, Sam, leaves his New York office to go to the Greek Island was actually filmed at the Lloyd's Building on Lime Street in the City of London. He dashes down the escalators and through the porte-cochere, where yellow cabs and actors representing New York mounted police were used for authenticity.

The Fernando, Bill Anderson's yacht (actually a ketch) in the film was the Tai-Mo-Shan built in 1934 by H. S. Rouse at the Hong Kong and Whampoa dockyards.

Meryl Streep took opera singing lessons as a child, and as an adult, she previously sang in several films, including Postcards from the Edge, Silkwood, Death Becomes Her, and A Prairie Home Companion. She was a fan of the stage show Mamma Mia! after seeing it on Broadway in September 2001, when she found the show to be an affirmation of life in the midst of the destruction of 9/11.

Release

Though the world premiere of the film occurred elsewhere, most of the media attention was focused on the Swedish premiere, where Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog joined Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson with the cast at the Rival Theatre in Mariatorget, Stockholm, owned by Andersson, on July 4, 2008. It was the first time all four members of ABBA had been photographed together since 1986.

Reception

Mamma Mia! received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 54% of critics gave the film positive reviews based upon a sample of 175 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The Times gave it four stars out of five, as did Channel 4 (Britain) which said it had "all the swing and sparkle of sequined bell-bottoms." BBC Radio 5 Live's film critic Mark Kermode admitted to enjoying the film, despite describing the experience as 'the closest you get to see A-List actors doing drunken karaoke'. The Guardian was more negative, giving it one star, stating that the film gave the reviewer a "need to vomit", while Bob Chipman of Escape to the Movies said it was "so base, so shallow and so hinged on meaningless spectacle, it's amazing it wasn't made for men". The Daily Telegraph stated that it was enjoyable but poorly put together ("Finding the film a total shambles was sort of a shame, but I have a sneaking suspicion I'll go to see it again anyway."), whereas Empire said it was "cute, clean, camp fun, full of sunshine and toe tappers."

The casting of actors not known for their singing abilities led to some mixed reviews. Variety stated that "some stars, especially the bouncy and rejuvenated Streep, seem better suited for musical comedy than others, including Brosnan and Skarsgård." Brosnan, especially, was savaged by many critics: his singing was compared to "a water buffalo" (New York Magazine), "a donkey braying" (The Philadelphia Inquirer) and "a wounded raccoon" (The Miami Herald), and Matt Brunson of Creative Loafing Charlotte said he "looks physically pained choking out the lyrics, as if he's being subjected to a prostate exam just outside of the camera's eye."

Box office

Mamma Mia! grossed a worldwide total of $602.6 million and is the fifth highest-grossing film of 2008. It became the highest grossing live-action musical of all time, until it was surpassed by Bill Condon's Beauty and the Beast in 2017. It was also the highest-grossing movie directed by a woman, until it was surpassed by Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman in 2017. It is the third highest-grossing film of 2008 internationally (i.e., outside North America) with an international total of $458.4 million and the thirteenth highest gross of 2008 in North America (the US and Canada) with $144.1 million.

In the United Kingdom, Mamma Mia! has grossed £69.2 million as of January 23, 2009, and is the ninth highest-grossing film of all time at the UK box office. The film opened at #1 in the U.K, taking £6.6 million on 496 screens. It managed to hold onto the top spot for 2 weeks, narrowly keeping Pixar's WALL-E from reaching #1 in its second week.

When released on July 3 in Greece, the film grossed $1.6 million in its opening weekend, ranking #1 at the Greek box office.

The film made $9.6 million in its opening day in the United States and Canada, and $27.6 million in its opening weekend, ranking #2 at the box office, behind The Dark Knight. At the time, it made Mamma Mia! the record-holder for the highest grossing opening weekend for a movie based on a Broadway musical, surpassing Hairspray's box office record in 2007 and later surpassed by Into the Woods.

Awards and nominations

Home media

In November 2008, Mamma Mia! became the fastest-selling DVD of all time in the UK, according to Official UK Charts Company figures. It sold 1,669,084 copies on its first day of release, breaking the previous record (held by Titanic) by 560,000 copies. By the end of 2008, the Official UK Charts Company declared that it had become the biggest selling DVD ever in the UK, with one in every four households owning a copy (over 5 million copies sold). The record was previously held by Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl with sales of 4.7 million copies.

In the United States, the DVD made over $30 million on its first day of release. By December 31, 2008, Mamma Mia! became the best-selling DVD of all time in Sweden with 545,000 copies sold.

The single-disc DVD released in Sweden on 26 November contains all of the following:

The widescreen single-disc includes a bonus disc which includes:

A bonus disc is included in a separate case and bundled with the movie, and includes:

Sequel

Because of the film's financial success, Hollywood studio chief David Linde, the co-chairman of Universal Studios told The Daily Mail that it would take a while, but there could be a sequel. He stated that he would be delighted if Judy Craymer, Catherine Johnson, Phyllida Lloyd, Benny Andersson, and Björn Ulvaeus agreed to the project, noting that there are still plenty of ABBA songs to use. Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! was announced on May 19, 2017, with a planned release date of July 20, 2018. It will be written and directed by Ol Parker. On June 1, 2017, it was announced that Seyfried would be returning as Sophie. Later that month, Dominic Cooper confirmed in an interview that he would be returning for the sequel along with Streep, Firth and Brosnan. In July 2017, Baranski was confirmed to return as Tanya. That same month, Lily James was confirmed to portray young Donna. Jeremy Irvine and Alexa Davies are also set to portray younger versions of Sam and Rosie, respectively. Julie Walters and Stellan Skarsgård will also return as Rosie and Bill, respectively.