Mamma Mia 2: Meryl Streep returning to sing more ABBA in 'Here We Go Again!'

The follow-up will feature tracks not featured in the West End musical


 Meryl Streep is among the cast returning for a Mamma Mia! sequel

Universal has dropped an unexpected release date announcement for a sequel to its 2008 box office smash hit musical Mamma Mia!.

Titled Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!, the follow-up will see cast members Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried and Christine Baranski all return ten years later to sing fresh ABBA tracks not featured in the West End musical.

According to Variety, Universal has been batting sequel ideas around ever since the musical adaptation was released in 2008 with one story focusing on Streep and Brosnan's characters years before the original takes place.

Alongside the new ABBA tracks, Mamma Mia! 2 will also feature “some reprised favourites.”

Ol Parker, writer of John Madden film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, will both pen and direct the sequel. ABBA members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus will once again provide music and lyrics.

The original amassed box office takings of over $600 million (£460m) from a $52 million (£39.9m) budget. It also became the fastest-selling DVD upon its release in the UK.

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! will be released 20 July 2018.