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MAMMA Mia! Here We Go Again opens in cinemas next week. The sequel to the 2008 hit is set to be the movie of the summer thanks to an A-list cast, sunny setting and a smörgåsbord of ABBA songs to sing along to. Here, ABBA super-fan PETER DYKE presents 10 facts you need to know about the film before it opens on July 20…
1. The Name Of The Game
THE movie picks up five years on, with Sophie and Sky (Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper) back on their Greek island.
Sophie is pregnant and running her mum Donna’s villa.
Sophie’s three dads Sam, Harry and Bill (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård) are back, and so are Donna’s pals from The Dynamos – Tanya and Rosie (Christine Baranski and Julie Walters).
Cher also pops up as Sophie’s gran.
2. SOS
IS Meryl Streep’s character Donna dead? After a few teasers from Universal Pictures, fans think so. But Brosnan told a TV interviewer this week: “I got the call about doing the movie and said, ‘Is Meryl doing it?’ and they said, ‘Yes’.”
3. Take A Chance On Me
THE film is split between two time frames and flits between the present day and the 1970s. Bosses hired young stars including Downton’s Lily James and W1A’s Hugh Skinner to play earlier versions of the main characters.
4. Money, Money, Money
THE first film was based on the 1999 musical of the same name and has so far grossed more than £110million.
ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus held out on making a follow-up for 10 years as they wanted the story “to be right”.
5. Thank You For The Music
BENNY and Björn bravely put more than 10 not-so-famous songs in the sequel as they had used so many of their hits in the first.
The new tracks include When I Kissed The Teacher, My Love My Life, Why Did It Have To Be Me and Andante Andante.
6. Under Attack
AFTER Brosnan’s vocal skills came in for criticism in the first movie when he sang SOS and When All Is Said And Done, he admitted: “Funnily enough, I don’t sing as much in this one as I did in the last one – I don’t know why that is!”
7. Summer Night City
THE original Mamma Mia! was filmed on the sunny island of Skopelos. For this new one, bosses moved location to Vis – an island off Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast.
8. Dancing Queen
BENNY and Björn knew the sequel would have to include songs from the original so everyone could sing along. The cast will reprise Dancing Queen, Mamma Mia, I Have A Dream and Super Trouper.
9. Super Trouper
KEEP an eye out for Godfather 3’s Andy Garcia and Bridget Jones star Celia Imrie along with some other well known faces.
10. Fernando
CHER steals the show towards the end singing Fernando. But this isn’t her first time in an ABBA video.
She had a cameo in The Last Video alongside puppets of the Swedes and the stars themselves as they celebrated the 30th anniversary of their Eurovision win in 1974.