Meryl Streep has signed on to play Donna Sheridan in a forthcoming movie version of Mamma Mia! according to Variety. Phyllida Lloyd, who directed the show in London and on Broadway, will make her feature film directing debut. Judy Craymer of Littlestar and Gary Goetzman of Playtone will produce; Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson will executive produce with Abba songwriters Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. The Universal release is expected to begin filming this summer in London and Greece.
Catherine Johnson, who wrote the book for the musical, has written the screenplay for this story of a bride-to-be who never met her father and was raised by a formerly rebellious single mother Streep. After snooping in her mother's diary, the daughter invites three likely paternal candidates to her wedding, hoping to identify her dad by the time she walks down the aisle. The show includes 22 Abba hits including "Dancing Queen," "Super Trouper," "Take a Chance on Me" and "The Winner Takes It All."
The casting of Streep, widely hailed for her 2006 performance in The Devil Wears Prada, is a major coup for the film's producers. "She was always at the top of our wish list, and she encapsulates the spirit and energy and has the powerhouse qualities that character requires," Craymer told Variety.
Streep sang onstage in Central Park last summer while playing the title role in Mother Courage and onscreen alongside Lily Tomlin in A Prairie Home Companion, but Mamma Mia! will be her first full musical.
Mamma Mia! recently celebrated its fifth anniversary on Broadway and is an enormous money-maker; currently, there are 11 productions of the stage show playing in seven languages around the world.
