Good news for ABBA fans who can’t get enough of love triangles, big musical numbers, and sugar-dense sweetness: Universal has just placed a sequel to Mamma Mia! onto its 2018 film schedule. Subtitled, with a somewhat appropriate weariness, Here We Go Again!, the film will be written and directed by Ol Parker, who penned the screenplay for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
It’s not clear how Universal intends to follow on from the original, which saw big-name stars like Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, and Colin Firth beg each other to take a chance on them, all against the backdrop of Streep’s daughter’s wedding. One possible direction being flouted is a prequel, tracing the paths of the older characters back in the ’70s, although anything that minimizes Streep’s presence seems like a misstep, given that she was the most successful part of the 2008 original.