Mamma Mia 3 has seemingly been confirmed by a very unlikely source who has been added to the cast.
Following the success of the first two ABBA-based movie musicals starring the likes of Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth, hopes have been high that the beloved films could become a trilogy.
Now, it appears that a third movie is becoming a reality.
The news came from a new addition to the cast that no one could have expected – Alan Carr, who revealed that producer Judy Craymer has cast him in the next Greek adventure.
The Chatty Man star has been working with Judy on ITV’s Mamma Mia! I Have A Dream, a reality show in which musical theatre stars compete for the chance to star as Sophie in Mamma Mia! on the West End.
Speaking with Roman Kemp on Capital Breakfast, Alan dropped the scoop that there is indeed going to be a Mamma Mia! 3 film.
“I’ve got an exclusive for you,” Alan teased, “Judy Craymer the producer has said that I’m going to be in Mamma Mia 3.”
He explained: “She said this and we did a press conference and I said, ‘Say it, say it!’ because she’d had a few wines when she said it, so I wanted her to say it in front of all the press.”
When co-host Sian Welby asked, “So, as in the film?”, Alan confirmed: “The film, yeah, I’m going to Hollywood baby!”
Producer Judy confirmed to press (per Metro) that Alan had thrown his hat into the ring to appear in the currently untitled new blockbuster.
“He’s been sending me cash on a weekly basis,” she joked, adding that he wanted to play a “camp waiter” in the next film.
“Surely you can write that in!’ he said, adding: “I’m not getting any younger.”
Judy had teased the idea of a third movie back in May of this year, revealing to Deadline that it was “in its earliest stages”.
While she insisted there was nothing “official” about a third film and didn’t want to “over-egg it”, she did share: “I know there’s a trilogy there.”
She added: “There is a story there, and I do think Meryl should come back – and if the script is right, she would, I think, because she really loved playing Donna.”
Even Meryl Streep, whose character Donna was killed off ahead of the second film, said that she was open to a third film.
She told Vogue in a recent oral history: “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 [producer Judy Craymer] 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.”
Leading star Amanda Seyfried, however, also admitted that she doesn’t think a third Mamma Mia! could be on the cards.
Capital Breakfast With Roman Kemp airs weekdays from 6.30am.