Meryl Streep to Star in Mamma Mia! Film

Academy Award winner Meryl Streep will head the cast of the film of Mamma Mia!, which will be produced by Universal in partnership with Playtone and Littlestar.

Variety reports that Streep will play the role of single mother Donna Sheridan, the part created on Broadway by Louise Pitre. Producers include Judy Craymer and Gary Goetzman; executive producers are Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson as well as ABBA songwriters Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus.

Phyllida Lloyd, who directed both the London and Broadway mountings of the international hit musical, will make her feature-film directing debut on "Mamma Mia!," which will begin shooting this summer in both Greece and London. The screenplay has been penned by Catherine Johnson, who wrote the book for the musical.

Producer Craymer told the industry paper, "[Meryl Streep] was always at the top of our wish list, and she encapsulates the spirit and energy and has the powerhouse qualities that character requires."

Although Streep has previously sung in the films "Postcards From the Edge" and "A Prairie Home Companion," "Mamma Mia!" would be her first movie musical.

Mamma Mia! employs the hit songs of famed pop group ABBA to tell the story of Sophie Sheridan, a young girl who hopes to discover the identity of her father. On the eve of her wedding, she brings three men from her mother Donna's past back to the Greek island they visited over two decades ago.

Mamma Mia! features music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Bj?rn Ulvaeus, a book by Catherine Johnson, direction by Phyllida Lloyd and choreography by Anthony Van Laast. In New York, the musical plays the Winter Garden Theatre, which is located at 1634 Broadway.

Meryl Streep won Academy Awards for her performances in "Sophie's Choice" and "Kramer vs. Kramer." She was also Oscar-nominated for her work in "Adaptation," "Music of the Heart," "One True Thing," "The Bridges of Madison County," "Postcards from the Edge," "A Cry in the Dark," "Ironweed," "Out of Africa," "Silkwood," "The French Lieutenant's Woman" and "The Deer Hunter." Streep received a Tony nomination for 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, and her other Broadway appearances include Happy End, The Cherry Orchard, Secret Service and Trelawny of the "Wells". Streep was most recently on the New York stage in the Public Theater's presentation of Mother Courage.

Pierce Brosnan, the TV and film actor best known for his work in a series of James Bond films, has landed the role of Sam in the upcoming film of the international hit musical Mamma Mia!

Variety reports that filming for the latest movie musical will begin June 25 in London and Greece.

The role of Sam ? one of the three possible fathers summoned to Greece by a young gal named Sophie ? will allow Brosnan the chance to duet with Streep on the ABBA standard "S.O.S." The actor told Variety, "I said yes right away because it meant working with Meryl Streep. Secondly, I saw the show with my family in London, and found it just so wonderfully happy and joyful, and so pitched in time forever in the 1970s. What a kick in the pants, to be able to go off and spend time with Meryl on some Greek island, singing ABBA songs."

"Mamma Mia!" producer Judy Craymer told the industry paper, "Pierce brings a certain smooth factor, and we think he'll have great chemistry with Meryl in a romantic comedy. He is the perfect choice."

Pierce Brosnan became well known for his work in TV's "Remington Steele" before his starring role in such James Bond films as "GoldenEye," "Tomorrow Never Dies" and "The World Is Not Enough." "Mamma Mia!" will mark the actor's film musical debut, although he did sing a few tunes in the drama "Evelyn" and sang onstage when he began his career. Brosnan's upcoming films include "Butterfly on a Wheel" and "Married Life." He is also preparing to begin filming a sequel to "The Thomas Crown Affair."

Phyllida Lloyd, who directed both the London and Broadway mountings of the musical, will make her feature-film directing debut on "Mamma Mia!"; the screenplay has been penned by Catherine Johnson, who wrote the book for the musical.

Mamma Mia! employs the hit songs of famed pop group ABBA to tell the story of Sophie Sheridan, a young girl who hopes to discover the identity of her father. On the eve of her wedding, she brings three men from her mother Donna's past back to the Greek island they visited over two decades ago.

Mamma Mia! features music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Bj?rn Ulvaeus, a book by Catherine Johnson, direction by Phyllida Lloyd and choreography by Anthony Van Laast. In New York, the musical plays the Winter Garden Theatre, which is located at 1634 Broadway.

London's Daily Mail recently reported that three songs from the stage show have been dropped: "Thank You For the Music," "Under Attack" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You." The movie, however, introduces another ABBA song to book and screenplay writer Catherine Johnson's storyline, "When All Is Said and Done."