Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

***Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again*** is a 2018 jukebox musical romantic comedy film written and directed by Ol Parker, from a story by Parker, Catherine Johnson, and Richard Curtis. It is a follow-up to the 2008 film *Mamma Mia!* , which in turn is based on the West End/Broadway musical of the same name using the music of ABBA. The film features an ensemble cast, including Dominic Cooper, Amanda Seyfried,  Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Jeremy Irvine, Josh Dylan, Hugh Skinner, Lily James, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Alexa Davies, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Andy García, Meryl Streep, and Cher. Both a prequel and a sequel, the plot is set after the events of the previous film, and also features flashbacks to 1979, telling the story of Donna Sheridan's arrival on the island of Kalokairi and her first meetings with her daughter Sophie's three possible fathers.

Due to the financial success of the first film, Universal Pictures had long been interested in a sequel. The film was officially announced in May 2017, with Parker hired to write and direct. In June 2017, many of the original cast confirmed their involvement, with James being cast in the role of Young Donna that July. Filming took place from August to December 2017 in Croatia, Bordeaux, Stockholm, Oxford, Hampton and at Shepperton Studios. A British and American joint venture, the film was co-produced by Playtone, Littlestar Productions and Legendary Entertainment.

*Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again* was premiered at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on July 16, 2018, and was released in the United Kingdom and the United States on July 20, 2018, ten years to the week after its predecessor's release, in both standard and IMAX formats.[5] The film was a box office success, grossing $395 million worldwide and received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the performances and musical numbers.[6][7]

The film is dedicated to the memory of production designer Alan Macdonald.

## Plot

Sophie Sheridan  is preparing for the grand reopening of her mother Donna's hotel, following Donna's death a year earlier (Thank you for the Music)  She is upset because two of her fathers, Harry and Bill, are unable to make it to the reopening and she is having trouble in her relationship with Sky, who is in New York learning about hotel management, over her memorializing her mother's life ("One of Us").

In 1979, a young Donna graduates from New College, Oxford with Rosie and Tanya ("When I Kissed the Teacher"), and prepares to travel the world. In Paris, she meets and parties with Harry. They spend the night together ("Waterloo"), but Donna leaves soon after. She misses her boat to Kalokairi but is offered a ride by Bill, and along the way, they are able to help a stranded fisherman, Alexio, back to shore in time to stop the love of his life from marrying another. Unbeknownst to Donna, Harry has followed her to Greece; however, he arrived too late, and sadly watches the boat sailing off in the distance ("Why Did it Have to Be Me?").

In the present, Tanya and Rosie arrive to support Sophie with the reopening and it's revealed that Rosie and Bill have split up ("Angel Eyes"). Sophie then visits Sam, who is still grieving over the death of Donna. Back in the past, Donna arrives on the island ("I Have a Dream") and while exploring the farmhouse, a sudden storm causes her to discover a spooked horse in the basement. She seeks for help and finds a young Sam riding his motorcycle and he helps her to save the horse. Back in the present, a storm has caused serious disruption to Sophie's plans for the grand reopening and prevented media coverage of the event.

Back in the past, Donna and Sam are enjoying a whirlwind romance ("Andante, Andante", "The Name of the Game"), until Donna discovers a picture of Sam's fiancée Lorraine in his drawer. Devastated, Donna demands Sam to leave the island and refuses to see him again ("Knowing Me, Knowing You"). In the present, Sam tells Sophie about her value to her mother. Meanwhile, Harry leaves his business deal in Tokyo to support Sophie, and in Stockholm, Bill gets the same idea. Bill and Harry meet at the docks but are told there are no boats. However, Alexio gives Bill, Harry, the newly arrived Sky and hundreds of others boat passage.

In the past, a depressed Donna is visited by Tanya and Rosie. In a local bar, Donna regains her spirit with Tanya and Rosie’s help (“Mamma Mia”). She meets Bill again and they go out on his boat; while they are gone, Sam returns, having recently ended his engagement for Donna, but is saddened to hear that she is with another man and leaves the island once again. Donna discovers she is pregnant but has no idea which one of her three recent lovers is the father. Sofia, the mother of the owner of the bar where Donna and the Dynamos performed, overhears Donna's wish to stay on the island, and Donna happily accepts her offer to let her live at her farmhouse, where she eventually gives birth to Sophie.

Back in the present, the guests have arrived at the party and Sophie is reunited with her other two fathers and Sky ("Dancing Queen"). Sophie reveals to Sky that she is pregnant and has never felt closer to her mother, having now understood what her mother went through. Bill and Rosie reunite over their grief for Donna. Sophie's estranged grandmother and Donna's mother, Ruby, arrives despite Sophie having decided not to invite her. She reveals that Sky tracked her down in New York and she wants to build a real relationship with Sophie. Sophie then performs a song with Tanya and Rosie in honor of her mother ("I've Been Waiting For You"), with her grandmother tearfully telling her afterwards how proud she is of her. Ruby later reunites with Fernando, the hotel’s manager and her former lover back in 1959 (“Fernando”).

Nine months later, Sophie has given birth to a baby boy. Everyone has gathered for his christening where Tanya flirts with Fernando's brother. The ceremony takes place with Donna's spirit watching over her daughter with pride as the two of them have one final moment before Donna's spirit passes on ("My Love, My Life"). At the end, all the characters, including Donna and the younger cast, sing "Super Trouper" at a huge party at Hotel Bella Donna.

## Cast

* Amanda Seyfried as Sophia Sheridan-Rymand, Donna's 25-year-old daughter and Ruby's granddaughter.

* Meryl Streep as Donna Sheridan-Carmichael, founder of Donna and the Dynamos, Sophie's mother, Ruby's daughter, and Sam's late wife.
	+ Lily James as Young Donna.
* Christine Baranski as Tanya Chesham-Leigh, one of Donna's best friends and former bandmates in Donna and the Dynamos; a rich three-time divorcee.
	+ Jessica Keenan Wynn as Young Tanya.
* Julie Walters as Rosie Mulligan, one of Donna's best friends and former bandmates in Donna and the Dynamos; a fun-loving author in a relationship with Bill.
	+ Alexa Davies as Young Rosie.
* Pierce Brosnan as Sam Sheridan-Carmichael, an architect, Sophie's possible father, Ruby's son-in-law, and Donna's widower.
	+ Jeremy Irvine as Young Sam.
* Colin Firth as Harry Bright, Sophie's possible father, a British businessman.
	+ Hugh Skinner as Young Harry.
* Stellan Skarsgård as Bill Anderson, Sophie's possible father, a Swedish sailor and travel writer, Sofia's great-nephew, Lazaros's cousin, and also as Kurt Anderson, Bill's obese twin brother.
	+ Josh Dylan as Young Bill.
* Dominic Cooper as Sky Rymand, Sophie's husband.
* Cher as Ruby Sheridan, Donna's mother, Sophie's grandmother, and Sam's mother-in-law.
* Andy García as Fernando Cienfuegos, the Mexican manager of the Hotel Bella Donna, old lover of Ruby's from 1959.
* Maria Vacratsis as Sofia, Bill's great aunt and Sophie's namesake, a local who owns the shack in which Donna and Sam stay and which eventually becomes Donna's home.
* Panos Mouzourakis as Lazaros, Sofia's son and Bill's cousin who owns the bar at which both his band and Donna and the Dynamos perform.
* Omid Djalili as a Greek customs officer.
* Celia Imrie as the Vice-Chancellor of the university at which Donna, Tanya and Rosie studied.
* Gerard Monaco as Alexio, a local Greek fisherman.
* Anna Antoniades as Apollonia, Alexio's lover and later wife.
* Jonathan Goldsmith as Raphael Cienfuegos, Fernando Cienfuegos's widower brother.

**Cameo appearances**

* Björn Ulvaeus as a university professor.
* Benny Andersson as the pianist in the Parisian restaurant during "Waterloo".