Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Does anyone care whether Meryl participates in a third "Mamma Mia!" movie?

Three years ago, I posted that Mamma Mia! creator Judy Craymer had been quoted in an interview that a third film may be on the horizon. Well, as they're on the look for new stars for the upcoming 25th anniversary of the stage musical, Craymer is again saying that things are in the early stages for a new movie. In fact, she's quoted as saying about Meryl, "There is a story there, and I do think Meryl should come back -- and if the script is right, she would, I think, because she really loved playing Donna."

Fine. But what kind of script is there going to be for a dead character who was originally played by an actor that will be close to twenty years older thatn when she was in the original movie? Maybe they'd figure something that would be believable, but I pretty much don't care if this happens. I do like when things are tidy, and when they say that they originally planned for this to be a trilogy, maybe it makes sense. But I don't think Meryl needs to do this to stay relevant, even if it ended up making a lot of money. Maybe it's true that she'd just like to do it because it was fun and she enjoys Donna as a character. 

At this point, I'd rather she spend her time on something new and more interesting. We'll see if it ever comes to fruition, with or without Meryl. 

10 comments:

  1. As much as I enjoyed the original I do wish Ol Parker had directed it, I believe it would have felt more polished and "put together", as the sequel did.

    I agree with you, Meryl barely had a cameo in the sequel (although it was beautifully done) I'm not sure I'd be especially interested in a third outing, I thought her appearance with Sophie in the church was a lovely send-off

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  2. She needs an international box office triumph for new artistic movies. And she will be great. So, yes!! To MM3!!!

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    1. I can't really see how she can participate as Donna unless they set in between the original and sequel before she dies. When news leaked that Donna would be deceased in MM2 and I heard Meryl's brilliant and haunting cover of "The Day Before You Came" I wrongly thought this would be used in a flashback to her last days, greeted by her family and friends. There are some who believed Agnetha is singing about death in the song and it's about a woman's last day on earth.

      I also wonder if the story for MM2 was written as Meryl didn't want to return to the role (but agreed to a cameo). I really can't imagine a writer shutting her out as Meryl was so much the face of the original and let's face it, by far the biggest name (before Cher was added in).

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  3. They will use Cher to bring her back. Meryl probably said yes only for Cher.

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    1. Oh I doubt that, Meryl seems to get along well with most people she's worked with and was probably happy to team with them for a few days and support the sequel. Cher was the cherry on top! I just think she has an aversion to sequels!

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  4. If Meryl were to participate in MM3, I will be utterly disappointed with her choice. Hopefully not!

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    1. She’s allowed to do whatever she wants and it doesn’t change anything about her.

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  5. ΙΜDB announced today a MammaMia new movie with Meryl and Cher. What s that? The third MM or something else?

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  6. I believe she filmed her scenes for the second one in less than a week. If the script is fun, and they give it to a capable director - and it’s not a big sacrifice of time for her, I don’t see why not. I like the idea of a trilogy too!

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    1. I pretty much agree with all this. I don't know why but a trilogy does provide a bit of a feeling of it being nicely tied up. I'm all for her having a box-office smash. I'm just selfish with wanting to see her in the kinds of roles I like seeing her in, and I wouldn't want Mamma Mia to potentially get in the way of that. But ultimately I doubt she'd ever pass up an opportunity in a project with a great script/director just to do third Mamma Mia. They'd all figure out how she could do both.

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