Winner takes it all! Abba sequel tops charts
SUCCESS certainly seems to be the name of the game for Abba movie Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. The film is the best-performing movie of the year so far, having raked in nearly €1million every week, helping it soar to the top of the Irish box office charts.
The singalong sequel to 2008’s Mamma Mia! has pulled in more €4.8million since it was released over five weeks ago, and is now on course to become one of the most successful films of all time at Irish theatres.
Industry sources have attributed the feelgood musical’s success to repeat cinema visits, with many movie-goers returning to watch it twice or even three times.
It’s now almost certain that the sequel – which features Cher, as well as reuniting A-lister smoothies Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth – will break the €5million mark.
The nostalgic picture, which is crammed with a string of Abba’s greatest hits, could yet match the phenomenal success of the original 2008 summer blockbuster – which took more than €6.3million to become the fourth biggest earner of all time at the Irish box office.
Eoin Wrixon, CEO of marketing company Wide Eye Media, said: ‘The sequel to Mamma Mia! has dazzled Irish audiences and danced its way to the top of the box office charts.
‘The film is now the No.1 performing film in the Republic of Ireland, and looks likely to join its predecessor on the list of the topten highest-grossing films of all time in Ireland. There hasn’t been a new entry to this list since Star Wars: The Force Awakens broke box office records in 2015. Irish fans are going to see this film not just once, but twice or even three times.
‘It demonstrates how much Irish audiences have missed Mamma Mia!, and how we cannot resist a feelgood movie and the lure of the big screen.’
Musical fans can look forward to a string of hotly tipped pictures between now and the end of the year, beginning in early October with A Star Is Born, a remake of one of Hollywood’s most enduring love stories, starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
Later the same month, cinema-goers have been told to expect to be ‘rocked’ by Bohemian Rhapsody, which chronicles Freddie Mercury’s rise to fame with rock band Queen.
But perhaps the biggest attraction of them all will be the keenly anticipated Mary Poppins Returns, a new musical adventure which will be released shortly before Christmas.
Mr Wrixon added: ‘All of these hits will have Irish cinema-goers singing and dancing in the aisles.’
Irish people are still Europe’s most enthusiastic movie fans, with an average of 3.4 cinema visits per capita made last year – more than anywhere else in the EU.
3.4 the average number of cinema trips made per person in Ireland last year – the highest in the EU!