Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is a jukebox musical romantic comedy film written and directed by Ol Parker, from a story by Parker, Catherine Johnson, and Richard Curtis. It is a follow-up to the 2008 film Mamma Mia!, which in turn is based on the West End/Broadway musical of the same name using the music of ABBA. The film features an ensemble cast, including Dominic Cooper, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Jeremy Irvine, Josh Dylan, Hugh Skinner, Lily James, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Alexa Davies, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Andy García, Meryl Streep, and Cher. Both a prequel and a sequel, the plot is set after the events of the previous film, and also features flashbacks to 1979, telling the story of Donna Sheridan's arrival on the island of Kalokairi and her first meetings with her daughter Sophie's three possible fathers.
The film was co-produced by Playtone, Littlestar Productions, Legendary Entertainment and Perfect World Pictures.
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again was premiered at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on July 16, 2018, and was released in the United Kingdom and the United States on July 20, 2018, ten years to the week after its predecessor's release, in both standard and IMAX formats.
The film is dedicated to the memory of production designer Alan MacDonald.
Synopsis[]
Five years after the events of the first film, Sophie Sheridan is preparing for the grand reopening of her mother's hotel, after her mother Donna passed away a year prior. She is upset because two of her fathers, Harry and Bill, are unable to make it to the reopening and she is having trouble in her marriage to Sky, who is in New York, over her memorializing her mother's life but forgetting about her own.
Twenty-five years earlier, a young Donna has just graduated and getting ready to travel the world. While in Paris, she meets Harry, who is eventually able to charm her into taking his virginity. She later misses her boat to Kalokairi, but is offered a ride by Bill, and along the way, they are able to help a stranded fisherman make it in time to stop the love of his life from marrying another. Unbeknownst to Donna, Harry has followed her to Greece, but arrived too late, and sadly watches the boat sailing off in the distance.
In the present, Tanya and Rosie arrive to support Sophie with the reopening and it's revealed that Rosie and Bill have split up because of his wandering eye. Sophie then visits her possible father and stepfather Sam, who is still grieving over the death of Donna. Back in the past, Donna arrives on the island and while exploring the farmhouse, a sudden storm causes her to discover a spooked horse in the basement. She goes in search of help only to find a young Sam riding his motorcycle and he helps her to save the horse. Back to the present, a storm has caused serious disruption to Sophie's plans for the grand reopening and prevented any investors or media coverage from making it to the island.
Back in the past, Donna and Sam are enjoying a whirlwind romance that ends when Donna discovers a picture of Sam's fiancé in his drawer. A devastated Donna tells Sam to leave the island, which he does. In the present, Sam tells Sophie this story to make her see that she could never let her mother down. Meanwhile, Harry leaves his business deal in Tokyo to support Sophie, Bill gets the same idea and uses his twin brother as a stand-in to receive the award he was supposed to get. Bill and Harry meet at the docks but are told there are no boats heading to Kalokairi. However, Bill meets the fisherman he and Donna helped years previously, who agrees to give them a ride on his boat. Bill, Harry and a recently arrived Sky head for the island along with several boats filled with party guests.
In the past, a depressed Donna is heartbroken over Sam but is able to channel her anger into song with help from the recently arrived Tanya and Rosie. She meets Bill again and they go out on his boat, while they are gone, Sam returns, having recently ended his engagement for Donna, but is saddened to hear that she is with another man and leaves the island again. Donna discovers she is pregnant but has no idea which one of her three recent lovers is the father. Sophia, the mother of the owner of the bar where Donna and the Dynamos performed overhears Donna's wish to stay on the island and reveals she owns the farmhouse Donna has been staying in. She offers to let Donna live there permanently and Donna happily accepts, and it is there that she eventually gives birth to Sophie.
Back in the present, the guests have arrived at the party and Sophie is reunited with her other two fathers and Sky. Sophie reveals to Sky she is pregnant and has never felt closer to her mother, having now understood what her mother went through. Bill and Rosie reunite over their grief for Donna. Sophie's estranged grandmother, and Donna's mother Ruby, arrives despite Sophie deciding not to invite her. She reveals that Sky tracked her down in New York and she wants to build a real relationship with Sophie. Sophie then performs a song with Tanya and Rosie in honor of her mother, with her grandmother tearfully telling her afterwards how proud she is of her. It is then revealed that the manager of the hotel, Fernando, is Ruby's ex-lover, and the two are joyously reunited.
Nine months later, Sophie has given birth to a baby boy and everyone has gathered for his christening where Tanya flirts with Fernando's brother. The ceremony takes place with Donna's spirit watching over her daughter with pride. The film closes with all the characters singing "Super Trouper" at a huge party, joined by Donna's spirit and the younger selves of Donna and the Dynamos and Sophie's three fathers.
Cast[]
- Amanda Seyfried as Sophie Sheridan, Donna's 25-year-old daughter, Ruby's granddaughter, Sky's wife, Sam's stepdaughter/possible daughter and possible daughter to Harry and Bill, and Donny's mother.
- Meryl Streep as Donna Sheridan, Sophie's mother and Ruby's daughter, owner of the Hotel Bella Donna, and Sam's wife.
- Lily James as Young Donna
- Dominic Cooper as Sky Rymand, Sophie's husband, Donny's father, Donna's son-in-law, Sam's stepson-in-law/possible son-in-law, and possible son-in-law to Bill and Harry.
- Christine Baranski as Tanya Chesham-Leigh, one of Donna's best friends and former bandmates in Donna and the Dynamos; a rich three-time divorcee.
- Jessica Keenan Wynn as Young Tanya
- Julie Walters as Rosie Mulligan, one of Donna's best friends and former bandmates in Donna and the Dynamos; an unmarried fun-loving author.
- Alexa Davies as Young Rosie
- Pierce Brosnan as Sam Carmichael, Sophie's stepfather/possible father, Sky's possible father-in-law, an Irish-American architect, Ruby's son-in-law, and Donna's widower.
- Jeremy Irvine as Young Sam
- Colin Firth as Harry Bright, Sophie's possible father, Sky's possible father-in-law, and a British banker.
- Hugh Skinner as Young Harry
- Stellan Skarsgård as Bill Anderson, Sophie's possible father, Sky's possible father-in-law, a Swedish sailor and travel writer
- Josh Dylan as Young Bill
- Cher as Ruby Sheridan, Donna's mother, Sophie's grandmother, and Sam's mother-in-law.
- Andy García as Fernando Cienfuegos
- Omid Djalili as a Greek customs officer.
- Celia Imrie as the Vice-Chancellor of the university at which Donna, Tanya and Rosie studied.
- Maria Vactrasis as Sophia, Bill's great aunt and the owner of the farmhouse
- Panos Mouzourakis as Lazaros, Sophia's son and Bill's cousin
- Gerard Monaco as Alexio, a local Greek fisherman.
- Anna Antoniades as Apollonia, Alexio's lover and later wife.
- Jonathan Goldsmith as Raphael Cienfuegos, Fernando Cienfuegos's widower brother.
- Naoko Mori as Yumiko
Trailers[]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcSMdhfKga4
References[]
Trivia[]
- Musical revivals including Mama Mia! Here We Go Again are discussed in a Broadwaysted episode produced by the Broadway Podcast Network.[1]