Yesterday it was reported that there is a screen adaptation of the hit Abba stage musical Mamma Mia! in the works, to be directed by theatre director Phyllida Lloyd. Then today the world went insane and careened off its axis. It seems, according to Variety, that Meryl Streep -- proper multi-Oscar winning proper actress Meryl Streep -- is to topline this musical beloved by camp men and coachloads of raucous middle-aged women named Doreen.
Streep will play a single mother whose daughter is about to marry and wants to finally meet the father she has never known. So, naturally, she invites three potential fathers to her wedding to find out which is hers. This gives spurious reason to sing Abba hits like Dancing Queen and Winner Takes It All. Streep has sung on film before (Postcards From The Edge, Prairie Home Companion) but this is her first full musical.
For reasons impossible to fathom Mamma Mia! has played in over 130 countries since opening in 1999 and grossed $1.6 billion. Which means there are people in the world who consider this film an appealing idea. These people are called lunatics and must be stopped, lest they breed and take over the world.