First set pics from "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again"

The Daily Mail posted the first pics from the set of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again  Sadly, none of the photos are of Meryl, but we're treated to several of Lily James, who plays the younger version of Meryl's character Donna:

The Dynamos from L to R: Alexa Davies (young Rosie), Lily James (young Donna) and Jessica Keenan Wynn (young Tanya)

The Dynamos from L to R: Christine Baranski (Tanya), Meryl Streep (Donna) and Julie Walters (Rosie)

Some rockin' 70's fashions in these pics!  The film is set for release on July 20 next summer.

Principle photography begins on "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again"

Well, I guess it's now official that filming is underway on Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.  Last weekend I had posted an Instagram pic from Lily James which suggested that they had already begun shooting.  It looked as if she was in costume, but it's possible that they were just in rehearsals.  Regardless, Universal tweeted today they've begun production.

'Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again' is now in production! pic.twitter.com/ryNMeLaGgO

— Mamma Mia (@mammamiamovie) August 22, 2017

Filming is apparently taking place on the Greek island of Kalokairi. Previous reports suggested that some scenes will also be shot in Croatia.  No word on whether Meryl's scenes will be shooting soon.  I'm still curious to know exactly how big her part is.  Is it just a bit role and the majority of the film is with the new cast, or is Meryl still the main character and the new cast just have smaller roles shown in flashbacks?  More to come, I'm sure.

Full cast of characters revealed for "The Papers"

I was checking out Awards Watch this morning and noticed that someone had posted that the full cast of The Papers had been revealed.  There was no source cited, so I checked IMDbPro, but several actors' names are still not associated with specific characters.  Wikipedia, however, does now list the main cast and whom each will be playing:

Tom Hanks as Ben Bradlee
Meryl Streep as Kay Graham
Alison Brie as Lally Weymouth
Carrie Coon as Meg Greenfield
David Cross as Phil Geyelin
Bruce Greenwood as Robert McNamara
Tracy Letts as Paul Ignatius
Bob Odenkirk as Ben Bagdikian
Sarah Paulson as Tony Bradlee
Jesse Plemons as Roger Clark
Matthew Rhys as Howard Simons
Michael Stuhlbarg as Gene Patterson
Bradley Whitford as Fritz Beebe
Zach Woods as Daniel Ellsberg

No surprises here, really. With the exception of Hanks and Streep, the list is essentially made up of great television actors.  This list looks like a wonderful recipe for a SAG ensemble nomination.  Assuming the film is decent, the only thing standing if the way of that would be if screeners don't get out to members in time for voting to end on December 10, considering the film just wrapped less than a month ago. SAG noms are set to be announced on December 13. The film opens in limited release on December 22, going wide on January 12.

"Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" begins filming

Yesterday, Lily James posted an Instagram photo writing "It's Happening," indicating that filming has begun on the Mamma Mia! sequel.

It's happening.. #TheDynamos #MammaMia2

A post shared by @lilyjamesofficial on Aug 12, 2017 at 12:27am PDT

There were earlier reports that filming was to be at least partly in Croatia, but I don't know if that's where this photo was taken or when Meryl's scenes actually begin.  Regardless of when they do, since it's barely mid August and filming is already underway, I expect shooting to wrap around November.

Six years of Word on the Streep

Today marks six years since I started Word on the Streep!  After almost 700 posts (and counting), it continues to bring me great joy to follow Meryl's career.  As always, I want to say a very big 'thank you' to any and all readers.  The discussions, feedback and information you all provide make this blog doubly worth doing.  I hope to continue to live up to expectations and quality updates about our girl.

I hope she never slows down!

Results of poll #4

I know that the current poll has a few days remaining but since the voting has sort of leveled off I thought I'd comment on it now.  With 35 total votes in, I'm pleasantly surprised that Diana Nyad is the person whom people would most like to see Meryl portray in a biopic.  My surprise comes from not even expecting most people to know who she is.  I had never heard of her until I saw that one of the black list scripts was about her.

This could still be a viable role for Meryl.  A physical transformation in an inspiring story.  As I mentioned in one of my comments, it would be cool if she chose to film this just after turning 70 in 2019, sort of a fun physical achievement to prepare herself for all the swimming she'd likely have to do.  Plus, with already having completed The Papers, were she to do Nyad, I'd be two-for-two in the last two years in predicting which black list script she chose!

Make it happen, movie world.

Casting update for "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again"

Multiple sources have reported that Jeremy Irvine and Alexa Davies have joined the cast of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.  Irvine, best known for playing the lead role in Steven Spielberg's War Horse, will portray the younger version of Pierce Brosnan's character, while Davies will play Rosie, the younger version of Julie Walters's character in the original.

I have to admit I've never seen War Horse, but like the idea of Irvine and Meryl swapping stories on set of working with Steven.  The last I heard, filming was to start in late summer or early fall, so I suppose Meryl will be hightailing it to Croatia fairly soon.

The next year will be an unexpectedly full one for Meryl in the filming department.  Shooting just wrapped on The Papers, so I imagine that as soon as she's finished up with shooting Mamma Mia she'll be on a promotional blitz for the film back in the U.S.  Hopefully she'll be a factor in awards season.  Then we get Mamma Mia in the summer and Mary Poppins Returns next December.  Still crossing my fingers that The Nix finally gets greenlit for production as well.  If it does, I expect it to film next spring and/or summer.

It's a fun time to be a Meryl fan!