UNITED STATES

New Mamma Mia movie a probable hit with ABBA fans

July 20, 2018

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!, the sequel to the film version of Mamma Mia, arrives at cinemas during a bumper year for ABBA fans.

The new release, almost 10 years after the original, continues the story about a woman’s search for her real father using hit songs by 1970s pop phenomenon, ABBA to relate the tale.

The loyalty of the ABBA fan base all but guarantees that Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! will enjoy box office success. The original movie, based on the popular stage musical by the same name, disappointed critics, but not the fans. It was a hit at the box office, grossing U.S. $144.1 million in the United States alone.

The original movie starred Meryl Streep as the mother of Amanda Seyfried, who invites three of her mother’s former lovers -- Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgård -- to her wedding in order to find out who her father is. Pre-release hints suggest that the sequel might disclose the identity of the father. The new movie adds Cher to the reunited original cast.

News that the four members of the Swedish band -- Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Fältskog and Bjorn Ulvaeus -- had reunited to record new songs made headlines in April, demonstrating the continuing popularity of their perky pop sound. The four hadn’t been in a studio together for 35 years.

Easily the most commercially successful group of the 1970s, ABBA became the focus of a revival in the early 1990s, when its ABBA Gold topped charts around the world.

#22608 Published: May 4, 2018