Getting Youths To Take A Chance on ABBA

PICTURE this scenario: You have a musical movie based on the songs of one of the most popular 70s band, ABBA. The songs of the Swedish group are bound to be the main attraction for its legions of fans all over the world and marketing ‘Mamma Mia!’ for this group is definitely not going to be a problem, especially when it has an award-winning star like Meryl Streep and rom-com heart-throbs like Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stelan Skasgard.

However, how do you sell this movie to the youngsters who would probably have listened to ABBA songs but consider them Mom and Dad’s idols? Young people these days would not be caught dead in a movie that their parents like to watch.

So UIP, the distributors, had a commercial on cable TV provider, Astro, featuring its young star Amanda Seyfried (pictured with Dominic Cooper), portraying her as another 'Dancing Queen' like Vanessa Hudgens (a’la High School Musical) to lure the youngsters. Still, with the success of its stage musical (which will be playing in Malaysia soon), the movie is not likely to be a box-office 'Waterloo'. It should generate a momentum of its own and perhaps some youngsters will Take A Chance on it.

As a family-oriented movie, Mamma Mia! is lively and infectious enough to have the kids sing along with their parents. Young dating couples may also find this as a cheaper alternative to the stage musical too. The Review to follow...