Second Mamma Mia! movie poster
A second poster for MAMMA MIA! THE MOVIE has appeared this week. This poster appears to be for the US market, and is closer to the original musical poster concept.
I much prefer the first teaser poster that appeared in January. It was vibrant, slightly reminsicent of the musical poster, but featured both female leads. This new poster appears weak and pale by comparison, and aims the movie at people who might see a Lindsay Lohan or Olsen twins film.
See the two posters side-by-side and more at ABBA World’s special MAMMA MIA! section. Click on the poster, then follow the link on the main page.
16 March 2008 at 7:22 am
See icethesite for another view on the new poster.
23 July 2008 at 1:08 pm
Hi IAN
Here’s more ‘Mamma Mia!-The Movie’ related articles.
Kind Regards
Samuel Inglles
New Idea – 5 July 2008 (Pages 24-25)
ABBA-SOLUTELY FAB! From 007 to dancing queen, Pierce Brosnan is trying something new.
Best known for his role as James Bond in the 007 flicks, it’s hardly surprising that Pierce Brosnan is met with bemused looks when he tells people about his next role.
‘When people ask what I’m doing next and I say ‘Mamma Mia!’, a look of shock comes across their faces,’ he admits. ‘Then they ask: “Do you sing?” So far I’ve gotten away with it.’
Pierce’s decision to take part in the film – which is based on the musical inspired by ABBA’s songs, and opens in cinemas on July 10 – was easy.
‘What a kick in the pants to be able to go off and spend time with Meryl Streep on a Greek island and sing ABBA tunes,’ he says. ‘These are great roles for people of a certain age, and to work with Meryl has long been a dream of mine.’
Pierce was aware that if he wanted a career post-Bond, he needed to expand himself.
‘I guess I had painted myself into a corner with suave and debonair,’ he says. ‘Since Bond I’ve gotten out there and done a bit of character work. The Bond years were marvelous, but 007 was only part of what’s been a long career.’
At 55, Irish-born Pierce is now one of Hollywood’s old guard. So how does he feel about growing more mature in a youth-obsessed industry?
‘It’s glorious and frightening. But you have to embrace it - there’s not much you can do about it. You’d die of an ulcer if you worried about it,’ he says.
His beloved first wife, Aussie actress Cassandra Harris, died in 1991. Ten years later Pierce married fellow environmentalist Keeley Shaye Smith, and the couple have two children, Dylan, 11, and Paris, seven.
Pierce says fatherhood the second time – he also had a son with Cassie and adopted her two older children – keeps him young. ‘It’s given me more enjoyment and a wonderful sense of accomplishment,’ he says. ‘I have more patience now and I’m in awe of the process of life.’
As for his wife, he’s as in love with her now as he was the day he met her.
“The trick is to sustain the romance and passion, and that happens only through imagination, perseverance and respect.
I’m the luckiest of men. I’ve known true love – great love – twice. I’m so happy being the man I am, with the life I have,’ he admits.
TV Week – 12-18 July 2008 (Pages 90 & 91)
MOVIES
One big, fat ABBA wedding! – We chat to Amanda Seyfried and her co-stars about their new flick, ‘Mamma Mia!’, based on the hit stage musical. By Jenny Cooney Carrillo and Rachel Smith
* THE BRIDE
Question: Amanda, for those who haven’t seen the show, what’s the story about?
Answer: It’s about a girl and her mother who live on a Greek island. Meryl Streep’s character, Donna, has raised Sophie alone – there’s never been a father in the picture. It’s hard for her to bring it up with her mom, who’s always shushed it off as a fling, but she finds out who her potential fathers could be by looking through her mother’s diary. She then invites them all to her wedding, without telling Donna.
Q: You trained as a singer – why haven’t we heard about that until now?
A: I stopped singing when I was 17 because I moved to New York and made a conscious choice to pursue acting. But singing was my first love, the thing I was really passionate about. I wanted to be on Broadway and be in an opera. I had dreams, but nothing really came about.
Q: How nerve-racking were auditions?
A: They were scary! I needed to show them I was a strong singer and could sing ABBA. It’s funny because the recording of the soundtrack all happened in a couple of days, way before we started shooting. So, although singing was a big part of the auditions, it was only a part of the experience in the beginning.
Q: What was it like living in Greece during the film shoot?
A: I lived there a little short of a month. It was hard to go to work at 5 a.m. when the sun’s not even up, the bay’s all windy and you’re driving past these beautiful views. We worked six-day weeks, as well! The one day we had off, we partied like there was no tomorrow.
* THE GROOM
English actor Dominic Cooper – who plays the groom, Sky – was virtually unknown when his audition chemistry with co-star Amanda Seyfried landed him the role. As well as an episode of the series ‘Jericho’, Dominic had only appeared in the film ‘The History Boys’ and the mini-series ‘Sense And Sensibility’, so he was understandably overwhelmed on set.
“Suddenly, I’m in Greece with Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth, learning how to sing ABBA songs like a pop star, and trying to act like I’m not out of my league,” he laughs. “But it turned out to be the time of our lives!”
* THE SONGWRITERS
ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus served as executive producers on the film, worked with the cast on recording the songs, and even made a cameo.
“We all knew Meryl Streep was a great actress,” Benny says, “but who knew she could sing like this?”
Björn adds, “People asked us why we didn’t choose professional singers, but we had a say in casting and if they couldn’t sing, they couldn’t be in the movie.
“It’s interesting to see actors perform your songs,” Björn continues. “They have the tools to express the emotions that are within the songs, so it brings a whole new element to them.”
*THE PARENTS
Meryl Streep isn’t a likely choice to star in an ABBA songs musical, but it seems the Oscar winner has a secret singing past.
“I got into musicals in high school and hadn’t gone back since, so it was a dream to do this movie,” Meryl explains. “I saw the stage show seven years ago in New York, right after the World Trade Centre came down. I took my 10-year-old daughter [Louisa] for her birthday to cheer us all up, and we came out elated and floating on air. It taps into the joy of living, so I savoured every moment when they asked me to play Donna.”
Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’s’ Stellan Skarsgård play Sophie’s three prospective fathers – and they all sing, as well.
I’m the last man you expect to see singing and dancing, and I’ve never been so nervous about a job,” Pierce confesses. “But it was Meryl Streep, the music of ABBA, a chance to film in Greece, then at Pinewood studios in London, where I’d shot the Bond films, and flounce around in spandex and platform shoes with a couple of other boys!”
The London shoot Pierce is referring to is the film’s curtain call, where the main cast – including Julie Walters and Christine Baranski, who play Donna’s best friends – don outrageous ABBA-style outfits and perform a couple of the band’s best-known tunes.
“Who knew how painful spandex was?” Pierce laughs, while Stellan admits, “The first time the three of us looked at each other in all that get-up, we felt we’d never work again, but it was the joy of allowing yourself to be silly that was just so liberating.”
The Hollywood A-listers also worked with the choreographer and musical director from the ‘Mamma Mia!’ stage musical to ensure they would look and sound like the professionals who made up the ensemble cast.
“There were some nerve-racking moments over the singing because we didn’t want to disappoint Benny and Björn,” Colin admits. “When Pierce and I were recording ‘Waterloo’ in a studio with Benny behind the glass, we talked about how bizarre it was to be singing ABBA songs in front of him. Then Benny said, ‘It’s so bizarre to watch Mr Darcy and James Bond sing ‘Waterloo’!”
Photos: (1) Benny and Björn: Over 30 million people have seen the smash-hit stage musical, and they have similar hopes for the film. (2) Pierce says he “said yes [to the role] right away because it meant working with Meryl Streep”. (3) Dominic and the ‘Big Love’ actress had chemistry on-and-off-screen, indulging in a brief fling during filming. (4) Meryl says she relied on some rusty cheerleading skills for some of the dance sequences. (5) It was rumoured that, out of Stellan, Pierce and Colin, Mr Darcy had the worst dance-floor moves.
Hollywood diary with Jenny Cooney Carrillo. (Page 101)
Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to meet a lot of my idols, including Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Kirk Douglas, and it’s always a relief to discover they’re as classy and charming as I’d hoped. Without naming names, others have gone out of their way to be rude and arrogant, so it was with some trepidation that I flew to Greece to do interviews for the movie ‘Mamma Mia!’.
I wasn’t worried about meeting the musical’s stars Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan – I’ve meet them on many occasions over the years and they’re always an absolute delight to be around. No, I was nervous to meet my long-time idols, ABBA’s Benny and Björn.
Sitting with them on the deck of a stunning beachside resort just outside Athens, I broke the first rule of journalism: never admit you’re a fan. “When I was growing up in Melbourne, yours was the first concert I ever went to,” I confessed. To my delight, the pair were genuinely thrilled and warmed to me immediately, with Benny reminiscing about that trip and how they watched the Moomba Parade from the Melbourne mayor’s balcony.
The film adaptation of the hit stage musical is a wonderful tribute to the music and spirit of ABBA, but make sure you stay until the end of their special cameo as Greek gods. “Very appropriate,” Björn tells me, tongue firmly in cheek. It’s nice to discover that after meeting them, I’m still worshiping at their altar.
The Times – Saturday, 5 July 2008 (Page 14)
News/Travel
Mamma’s place: A Greek island is the real star of the new film, says Mark Bridge.
When they came to shoot the film adaptation of the ABBA musical, a feel-good Greek island set was essential. The forested island of Skopelos in the Northern Aegean Sporades group became the principal set for the film staring Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep. The cast can be seen dashing across white beaches to plunge into a sparkling sea or singing the big numbers en masse at epic locations, such as the rocktop monastery of Agios Ioannis.
Skopelos is a half-hour hop by hydrofoil from Skiathos, which is a three-hour charter flight from London. My family has owned a house on the island since 1971, when the closest airport was Athens and ferries stopped once a week. I visit most Summers with friends and family. Some come for the walks or medieval monasteries, but we tend to holiday like Greeks: lazy days at the beach and evenings in town.
The house is in the capital, Skopelos town, which climbs back from the port in a picture-book tumble of whitewashed houses and churches, blue doors and bougainvillea. On the waterfront are newer cafés, restaurants and boutiques, favourites with the Athenians who return each year.
Alongside the recent tourist-geared business are old-time local institutions: the banks and town hall, and Demotiki Kafeneon, the no-frills state-subsidised café where old men talk politics and drink coffee.
When I spend time on the island with friends, we usually breakfast on yoghurt and fruit at one of the less austere cafés before taking, a late-morning bus to the beach. The buses are cheap and efficient and make car hire unnecessary. They run from the port to Glossa, the island’s hill-top second town and cover miles of coastal views – sea, sky, pine and white-grey bed-rock – plus all the main beaches.
Te first en route, Stafylos, is a ten-minute drive from town. It is also the site of the tomb of a Minoan prince, Stafylos, no trace of which can be seen, however. Despite its 3,000-year history and a wealth of intact architecture, the island has no significant ancient ruins – arguably no bad thing: visitors see the real historic Greece, not a vast museum.
We usually skip the beach, however, in favour of quieter Agnondas – ten minutes farther on, and the base for the ‘Mamma Mia!’ crew.
Here a small shingle beach nestles in a natural harbour. Yacht crews stop here for the two excellent tavernas and bar that cluster close to a fishing jetty. We often lunch at one of these. The seafood is meant to be best, but, as a vegetarian, I opt for the cheap bean and tomato salads, and crusty bread. Well fed, we sunbathe and read – then swim in the sheltered sea.
One of the ‘Mamma Mia!’ crew’s hang-outs, Limnonari, is a scenic 15-minute walk from Agnondas with no bus access. The white-sand beach, flanked by forested hills, is an excellent place to laze in a relative seclusion – but with tavernas near by.
Most of the film’s locations are smaller beaches well off the beaten track. My favourite, Perivoli, on the sparsely inhabited north coast, has an almost Cornish feel, with jagged rocks and windswept flora. The beach can be reached by taxi or hire car and combined with a few hours in nearby Glossa. There, lunch on the terrace of Agnanti is a must.
Another excellent restaurant is Ouzeria Anatoli, simple and outdoors, within the low-walled ruins of the Venetian citadel at the highest point of Skopelos town. Rustic food, local wine, wide views and sea air combine to awesome and enormous effect with the rembetika of the musician-owner Kostas Kalafatis, who dueted with Benny Andersson at ‘Mamma Mia!’s’ crew bash.
Photo: Cast and crew of ‘Mamma Mia!’ on Skopelos. Most of the film’s beach locations are within easy reach for visitors.