Meryl Streep: ‘Of Course I Want to’ Star in ‘Mamma Mia 3’
Samantha Bergeson
Meryl Streep is ready for “Mamma M3a.”
The Oscar winner told Deadline that she would love to return as Donna Sheridan for a third “Mamma Mia” musical film, but admitted that she isn’t quite sure just how her character could come back after she was deceased in the 2018 sequel “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.” Streep briefly appeared in the sequel as a specter that sends love to daughter Lily (Amanda Seyfried) at her child’s (Donna’s grandchild’s) baptism.
“Of course I want to do it,” Streep told Deadline after receiving an honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes 2024. “[But] I don’t know how they’re going to do it. They have an idea. I haven’t heard it yet but it’s in [my calendar] and I’m going to hear about it pretty soon.”
Streep added, “Of course I want to do it. I think folks love it.”
The “Only Murders in the Building” Seasons 3 (and soon 4) actress previously told Vogue that she was “up for anything” as Donna.
“I’ll have to schedule a knee scoping before we film, but if there’s an idea that excites me, I’m totally there,” Streep said in 2023. “I told [creator] 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…We may have to call it ‘Grand-Mamma Mia!’ by the time we make it!”
After 2018’s “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” sequel, rumblings of a third film have been encouraged by its ensemble cast, most recently Colin Firth. Producer Judy Craymer also teased that a third film is “in its earliest stages” in 2023, and shared her hope that Streep will reprise the role of Donna.
“It’s in its earliest stages,” Craymer told Deadline “There is a story there, and I do think Meryl [Streep] should come back —— and if the script is right, she would, I think, because she really loved playing Donna.”
Craymer continued, “I don’t want to over-egg it, but I know there’s a trilogy there.”
Craymer and ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus in 1997 founded company Littlestar, which owns the rights to every iteration of “Mamma Mia.” The “Mamma Mia” franchise also spurred ITV reality competition series “Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream,” during which West End hopefuls compete to play Sophie and her fiancé Sky in the musical production.
While there is not an “official” confirmation on a third film, Craymer said, “We want to do another movie. But that’s the story of the last 25 years — there’s always a sense of caution from them, and we’re all getting older now. Obviously, anything to do with the music, they have to be OK with.”
The movie-musical “Mamma Mia” was released in 2008 and starred Streep as Donna, a hotel owner who is unsure which of her three ex-boyfriends are the biological father of daughter Sophie (Seyfried). Firth, Stellan Skarsgard, and Pierce Brosnan play the trio of former beaus who could be Sophie’s dad. Sequel “Here We Go Again” followed Sophie’s pregnancy with flashbacks to a young Donna (Lily James) exploring a trio of relationships during one summer on the Greek island of Kalokiri.
Craymer previously told Vulture that the franchise was always supposed to be a trilogy.
“I don’t think it would be as difficult to get everyone back together,” Craymer said. “I know I said that there probably will be one. I know. But it’s become such an important brand, and you just gotta get it right. There’s ideas and there’s thoughts, and ABBA has written more songs. I just have to get a move when I’m ready.”
Of course, it could all just come down to budget. Lead actress Seyfried told Vogue that while a third “Mamma Mia!” is the goal for the cast and crew, no one can work “for free.”
“I dare you to show me one person who doesn’t want a third ‘Mamma Mia!,’” Seyfried said. “Nobody is saying no, but nobody is saying yes either. The powers that be probably can’t afford us, to be honest.”
The “Mean Girls” alum continued, “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 going to come down to something stupid like whether or not Universal wants to pay the money.”
Universal executive Donna Langley said in the same article that “Universal would love to make a third movie, and I’ll leave it at that.”
