Mamma Mia the movie.

[green]

Dang, here come the musicals.
At least the casting is off to a good start. I was really impressed with Streeps singing in A Prairie Home Companion.
Ive seen the show and other than being filled with Abba's hits which are addictive it's not very good, but who knows.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=18356
Meryl Streep Joins Mamma Mia!
Source: Variety
January 11, 2007


Less than 24 hours after Variety announced that theatre director Phyllida Lloyd would be directing a movie based on the hit Broadway musical Mamma Mia!, they have broken the story that Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep is set to star in it. Lloyd, who directed the original "Mamma" in London as well as its Broadway incarnation, will make her feature directing debut on the pic, which will be shot in London and Greece.

Streep will play the rebellious single mother of a bride-to-be who never met her father. The daughter invites three likely paternal candidates to her wedding, and the ensuing conflict triggers the performance of 22 Abba hits including "Dancing Queen," "Take a Chance on Me" and "The Winner Takes It All."

The crowd-pleasing musical has played in 130 cities around the world and had grossed $1.6 billion since its 1999 opening. Casting of Streep adds a level of prestige and comes at a time when the actress is coming off a the boffo mainstream pic playing the boss from hell in Fox 2000's comedy The Devil Wears Prada. An accomplished singer, Mamma Mia! will be Streep's first full-blown musical after singing in Postcards From the Edge and Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion.

 

[The Chairman]

I'm down with it. I saw the show and thought it was incredible. Streep is great casting.

 

[tzarinna]

I've always wanted to see the play but never got around to it.
I love Streep and ABBA.

 

[green]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=19216

Mamma Mia! Pierce Brosnan to Sing!
Source: Variety
March 7, 2007


Pierce Brosnan will star opposite Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia!, the film adaptation of the hit musical for Universal Pictures and producing partners Playtone and Littlestar. Variety says the movie begins shooting June 25 in London and Greece.

Brosnan sang a few Irish standards in the indie drama Evelyn, and sang onstage early in his career. But this will be a decided departure for an actor best known for playing the steely James Bond.

Brosnan will play Sam, one of three men summoned to a Greek isle by a young woman who believes one of them is her father.

For Brosnan, the opportunity to belt out such ABBA standards as "S.O.S.," which will be a duet with Streep, was irresistible.

"I said yes right away because it meant working with Meryl Streep," Brosnan told the trade. "Secondly, I saw the show with my family in London, and found it just so wonderfully happy and joyful, and so pitched in time forever in the 1970s. What a kick in the pants, to be able to go off and spend time with Meryl on some Greek island, singing ABBA songs."

Mamma Mia! is being produced by Littlestar's Judy Craymer and Playtone's Gary Goetzman and Tom Hanks. Rita Wilson will executive produce with Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, latter of whom wrote the tunes when they were the creative catalysts for ABBA.

Phyllida Lloyd, who directed "Mamma Mia!" in its London and Broadway runs, is helming the picture, which was scripted by Catherine Johnson. She wrote the book for the stage musical, which recently surpassed $2 billion in ticket sales in more than 140 cities since opening in 1999.

Brosnan takes the job while preparing a sequel to The Thomas Crown Affair, which John Rogers scripted and Brosnan is producing under his Irish DreamTime banner. A director will be set shortly and production will begin before year's end.

interesting casting.

 

[tzarinna]

Wow,Brosnan,this is looking better and better.

 

[green]

http://www.cinematical.com/

It's time to add more cast to Mamma Mia. We've been covering the Abba adaptation for a while now, and recently Matt Bradshaw reported that Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep had both signed on to star in the musical. Although Variety had reported that he already signed, The Hollywood Reporter has him in final negotiations. However, they also list another co-star -- Amanda Seyfried. She's probably best known for her portrayal as Veronica's dead friend, Lilly Kane in Veronica Mars, or her time in Mean Girls. In Mamma, she'll play the bride-to-be. If you've never seen the musical, it's about an upcoming bride who wants to know who her father is. Her mother won't say, so she snoops in her mother's diary, finds 3 potential dads, and invites them all to her wedding. And, of course, it's all set to Abba music.

 

[Bastila]

I liked Mamma Mia seen it in London and well I love musicals so I will see this.

 

[Hunter Rider]

http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/m/Mamma-Mia/index-3727185.html

Trailer.

 

[terry78]

I'm waiting for Tony 'n Tina's Wedding, personally.

 

[Bastila]

I am seeing that, saw the show in London, it was good and funny. Shame the tralier is in crap quality lol.

 

[Hunter Rider]

 

[Space Moose]

Some guy who was in my class who now works at Panavision in the UK worked as a camera loader on this movies shoot. He said the shoot was fun and the location was pretty awesome.

 

[Carmine Falcone]

One look at that poster and I know this is a movie I'll never watch.


(Hunter knows why)

 

[StorminNorman]

Streep looks horrible.

 

[Drizzle]

If it's a musical that doesn't have throat-slashing or man-eating plants then I'm not interested.

 

[terry78]

Does Seyfried get naked?

Was there nudity in the stage show?

If any of these answers are yes, then I will go.

 

[Mr. Socko]

I have a feeling Mamma Mia will dent The Dark Knight.

 

[Drizzle]

I have a feeling Mamma Mia will dent The Dark Knight.

 

[DACrowe]

Laugh if up fuzzball. Then remember how The Devil Wears Prada humiliated Superman Returns in 2006.

With that said, I have never had any interest in seeing the musical Mamma Mia! I am not a fan of musical revues (since Cats, they've come back unfortunately. This, the Elvis one, Movin' Out with Billy Joel, etc.), I really hate Abba and always find something worth throwing a hundred or more (with other people) bucks down on than Abba.

But the trailer has Merryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan, Firth and the very good young actress from Big Love. The cast may make it good enough for a rental, like Hairspray. But I just know the music is going to be grating.

 

[xwolverine2]

no guy would ever watch this

 

[terry78]

no guy would ever watch this

On his own, no. But the power of the poon compels us.

 

[danoyse]

With that said, I have never had any interest in seeing the musical Mamma Mia! I am not a fan of musical revues (since Cats, they've come back unfortunately. This, the Elvis one, Movin' Out with Billy Joel, etc.), I really hate Abba and always find something worth throwing a hundred or more (with other people) bucks down on than Abba.

I can't stand the jukebox musicals either...I actually saw "All Shook Up" (the Elvis one) with free tickets, and it was absolutely god-awful. They've also attempted it with the Beach Boys music in "Good Vibrations," which looked even worse than All Shook Up.

I loved "Movin' Out" though. It was different than a regular jukebox musical because it had one singer perform all the songs with a band on stage, and the cast were all dancers performing with the songs. It almost like a ballet, and it was really cool. I'm a huge Billy Joel fan, and I was really impressed. They actually "got" the music rather than create some silly narrative with it.

I haven't seen Mamma Mia (and I still have no desire to), but people seem to love it...so I guess that's another jukebox musical they actually got right. I saw the trailer in front of Sweeney and wasn't too impressed...but people seem to love it. Go figure.

 

[terry78]

I am honestly waiting for a big screen version of Cats. I would honestly go see that **** just on the fact of how weird it would look. Rick Baker for ALL the makeup.

 

[Drizzle]

Laugh if up fuzzball. Then remember how The Devil Wears Prada humiliated Superman Returns in 2006.

Okay, comparing "Superman Returns" to "The Dark Knight" is like comparing the Special Olympics to the real Olympics. Batman is more of a box office draw than Superman. Mamma Mia will probably make a lot, but I don't think it's touching TDK.

 

[DACrowe]

I never said it had a chance to outgross it. But make a sizeable dent and end up the more porfitable movie or success story of the month? Possibly. TDK will be dark, violent, scares children (ask Burton how Penguin appeased parents and b.o. numbers for BR) and has the Ledger auora around it which will be a selling point for some people but a turn off for a small minority (happy go lucky moviegoers who will drag their boyfriends to something friendlier).

Enter the counter programming chick flick, that promises the same audience of The Devil Wears Prada and Hairspray combine. It will do very well at the b.o. and I would not be surprised if it took a dent out of TDK. Also, keep in mind that BB underperformed its opening weekend, but it was amazing WOM and great reviews that kept the drops small enough to make it a blockbuster hit.