Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried have weighed in on the potential for a Mamma Mia! 3. Vogue magazine recently published an oral history of the film franchise, which began with a film adaptation of the ABBA musical in 2008 and a sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, ten years later. Together, the films have earned more than $1 billion at the global box office. The film stars Streep and Seyfried as mother-daughter Donna and Sophie Sheridan, with Lily James portraying a young Donna in sequel flashbacks.
Notably, Universal Pictures chairman Donna Langley made it very clear to Vogue that the studio is interested in another movie. “Universal would love to make a third movie, and I’ll leave it at that,” she said. Offering her thoughts on the idea, Seyfried added, “I dare you to show me one person who doesn’t want a third Mamma Mia!” However, she cast some doubt on the possibility. “Nobody is saying no, but nobody is saying yes either,” Seyfried said. “The powers that be probably can’t afford us, to be honest. I hate to say it, because would I do Mamma Mia! 3 for free — of course, I would — but that’s not the business we’re in. What’s fair is fair, and I feel like a third film is gonna come down to something stupid like whether or not Universal wants to pay the money.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
As for Streep, she too is open to a third movie, telling Vogue, “I’m up for anything.” She continued, “I’ll have to schedule a knee scoping before we film, but if there’s an idea that excites me, I’m totally there. I told [producer Judy Craymer] if she could figure out a way to reincarnate Donna, I’m into that. Or it could be like in one of those soap operas where Donna comes back and reveals it was really her twin sister that died.” The Oscar-winning actress also joked, “We may have to call it Grand-Mamma Mia! by the time we make it!”
Notably, Streep also shared that she was excited to join the first movie back in 2008 after being a big fan of the stage musical, which she first saw on Broadway after the 9/11 attacks in New York in 2001. “It was an extremely traumatic event for everyone in the city, and Mamma Mia! became an important piece for me and my family at the time,” Streep shared. “When I had five little girls to entertain for my daughter’s birthday, I decided to take them all to see the show, and it was just the most glorious thing. People were standing on their seats and dancing in the aisles. It was fantastic, and anything that can deliver that much joy always deserves a place in the world.”
“I remember my agent calling me to discuss three offers that he thought were quite interesting,” the actress continued. “They all sounded very heavy and serious, and then at the end of the call he said, ‘Oh, and I almost forgot to mention – you’re probably gonna laugh – but the people from Mamma Mia! want you. I’ll let them know it’s a pass.’ I perked up and said, ‘Oh, God, no, I wanna do that!’”
