While I consider the Mamma Mia! movies to be peak movie musical cinema, there is one misstep I may never get over. You know, that time when Meryl Streep’s Donna Sheridan was killed off in the 2018 sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again? While I absolutely love the second movie, especially in regards to the exploration of Donna’s life before Sophie, did she really have to die? It certainly would write a third Mamma Mia! into a corner in regards to Streep’s return, should it happen, but at least the Oscar-winning actress has a fun idea about how she can return.
Meryl Streep and the cast of Mamma Mia! recently reflected on the classic movie to Vogue following it turning 15 years old earlier this summer. During the conversation, a third Mamma Mia came up, which looks to have thumbs up from the cast and filmmakers all around. Streep shared her particular thoughts on the subject, saying this:
I’m up for anything. I’ll have to schedule a knee scoping before we film, but if there’s an idea that excites me, I’m totally there. I told Judy 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.
Judy Craymer, who came up with the idea for Mamma Mia! as a musical before becoming a producer on the Universal films, has already shared her plans to make a trilogy and her hopes for Meryl to come back. She said if she had her way, there would be a third Mamma Mia! already, but it’s reportedly in its earliest stages, with its cast ready to sign up even as many of them share concerns over getting older. In the spirit of this, Streep also quipped:
We may have to call it Grand-Mamma Mia! by the time we make it!
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Stellan Skarsgård also jumped in, saying he thinks he might “be in an urn” by the time the filmmakers cook up a third film, but that being said he continued that he’d “gladly participate as a pile of ashes.”
As the Mamma Mia! crew discussed an upcoming sequel, Craymer shared that she’s definitely received flack for Donna dying in the sequel, but it had something to do with Streep’s unofficial no-sequel rule at the time. That being said, apparently, when Streep learned Donna kicked the bucket in Here We Go Again, she didn’t exactly want to be dead in it.
Considering all the excitement and optimism from the Mamma Mia cast and filmmakers during this 15th-anniversary conversation, I certainly have hope that a third movie will come out someday. Of course, it remains to be seen how they pull it off -- maybe Donna will come back from the dead. In the meantime, you can see Meryl Streep on the suspect list of Season 3 of Only Murders in the Building, now \with a Hulu subscription, with new episodes dropping on Tuesdays.
