Mamma Mia! (film) in the context of "Romantic comedy"

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⭐ Core Definition: Mamma Mia! (film)

Mamma Mia! (promoted as Mamma Mia! The Movie) is a 2008 jukebox musical romantic comedy film directed by Phyllida Lloyd and written by Catherine Johnson, based on her book from the 1999 musical of the same name. The film is based on the songs of pop group ABBA, with additional music composed by ABBA member Benny Andersson. The film features an ensemble cast, including Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Dominic Cooper, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, and Julie Walters. The plot follows a young bride-to-be named Sophie (Seyfried) who invites three men (Brosnan, Firth, and Skarsgård) to her upcoming wedding, with the possibility that any of them could be her real father. The film was an international co-production between Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and was co-produced by Playtone and Littlestar Productions.

Principal photography primarily took place on the island of Skopelos, Greece, from August to September 2007. The film was distributed by Universal Pictures. Mamma Mia! held its world premiere on June 30, 2008, at Leicester Square in London and premiered on July 4, 2008, in Stockholm, Sweden, with ABBA members Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog in attendance. It was later theatrically released July 10 in the United Kingdom, July 17 in Germany, and July 18 in the United States. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the musical numbers and production values, but criticized the casting of inexperienced singers and campy tone. However, it was a box-office success, grossing $611.5 million worldwide on a $52 million budget, becoming the fifth highest-grossing film of 2008. A sequel, titled Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, was released on July 20, 2018, with much of the cast returning.

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Mamma Mia! (film) in the context of Glossa, Skopelos

Glossa (Greek: Γλώσσα meaning "tongue") is a village and a community in the northwestern part of the island of Skopelos in the Northern Sporades. The population in 2021 was 970 for the community, which includes the villages Atheato and Loutraki. The town's elevation is about 200 meters. Glossa is located 11 km northwest of Skopelos (town).

In 1960, Glossa opened a public primary school, a telephone centre and had 1,842 inhabitants. Before the reorganization of the island government in 1997, Glossa and Klima constituted separate communities from Skopelos. Currently Glossa has nursery, primary, secondary and high school. There are also several churches. In the neighborhood of Glossa is the chapel of Agios Ioannis, featured in the 2008 film Mamma Mia!.

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Mamma Mia! (film) in the context of ABBA

ABBA (/ˈæbə/ AB [ˈâbːa]) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are among the most renowned and commercially successful musical groups in history.

In 1974, ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden with their song "Waterloo". In 2005, "Waterloo" was chosen as the best song in the competition's history during its 50th anniversary celebration. During their peak, ABBA comprised two married couples: Fältskog and Ulvaeus, and Lyngstad and Andersson. As their fame grew, their personal lives suffered, leading to the dissolution of both marriages. These relationship changes were reflected in the group's later music, which featured darker and more introspective lyrics. After ABBA disbanded in December 1982, Andersson and Ulvaeus continued their success writing music for stage, musicals, and movies, while Fältskog and Lyngstad pursued solo careers. Ten years after the group's breakup, the compilation ABBA Gold was released and became a worldwide best-seller. In 1999, ABBA's music was adapted into Mamma Mia!, a stage musical that toured globally. As of October 2024, it remains one of the ten longest-running productions on Broadway (closed in 2015) and the West End (still running). A film of the same name, released in 2008, became the highest-grossing film in the United Kingdom that year. A sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, was released in 2018.

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Mamma Mia! (film) in the context of Meryl Streep

Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Known for her versatility and adept accent work, she has been described as "the best actress of her generation". She has received numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over five decades, including three Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, eight Golden Globe Awards, four Emmy Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for seven Grammy Awards and a Tony Award.

Streep made her feature film debut in Julia (1977) and soon established herself as one of the most respected actresses of all time. A twenty-one time Academy Award nominee, she has won three — the first for Best Supporting Actress for playing a troubled wife in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), followed by two Best Actress wins for playing a Holocaust survivor in Sophie's Choice (1982) and Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady (2011). Throughout her career she has continued to earn critical acclaim for her diverse roles on film ranging from the dramatic in The Deer Hunter (1978), Silkwood (1983), Out of Africa (1985), The Bridges of Madison County (1995), Doubt (2008), August: Osage County (2013), Into the Woods (2014), and The Post (2017) to the comedic in The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Mamma Mia! (2008), Julie & Julia, It's Complicated (both 2009), and Florence Foster Jenkins (2016). She was also featured in Woody Allen's comedy-drama Manhattan (1979).

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Mamma Mia! (film) in the context of Stellan Skarsgård

Stellan John Skarsgård (/ˈstɛlən ˈskɑːrsɡɑːrd/, Swedish: [ˈstɛ̂lːan ˈskɑ̌ːʂɡoːɖ] ; born 13 June 1951) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his collaborations with director Lars von Trier, appearing in Breaking the Waves (1996), Dancer in the Dark (2000), Dogville (2003), Melancholia (2011), and Nymphomaniac (2013). Skarsgård's early English-speaking film roles include The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Good Will Hunting (1997), Ronin (1998), and King Arthur (2004).

Skarsgård has since starred in blockbusters such as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007). He also starred in the musical Mamma Mia! (2008), the thriller Angels and Demons (2009), the neo-noir thriller The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011), and the family drama Sentimental Value (2025). He played Dr. Erik Selvig in five Marvel Cinematic Universe films, starting with Thor (2011), and portrayed Baron Harkonnen in Denis Villeneuve's two-part Dune adaptation, Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024).

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