Hit West End musical Mamma Mia! is to be turned into a blockbuster movie after Tom Hanks bought the rights to screen it.
The film version of the long-running show, based on the music of Abba and penned by British playwright Catherine Johnson, is likely to hit cinemas towards the end of next year.
Abba songwriters Benny Andersson and Bjˆrn Ulvaeus have given the go-ahead and Universal is expected to bankroll the project. The stage show's Londonbornproducer Judy Craymer, 48, will also produce the film and Johnson will write the script.
Both women struggled financially to create the musical and Craymer remortgaged her home.
But her wealth was recently estimated at £67 million - placing her 31st in the Sunday Times music rich list.
The movie will stick closely to the stage story of a Greek bridetobe who tries to find out who her father is. She invites three likely candidates to her wedding to the soundtrack of 22 Abba hits.
Casting for the film has yet to take place but star names are promised. Craymer said today: "We've never had stars in the show - the music has always been the star - but we are certainly thinking about names."
Since opening at the Prince Edward Theatre in London in 1999, the show has transferred to 130 cities worldwide and has been seen by more than 20 million people. It has grossed more than £900million in six years. It is still running at the Prince of Wales Theatre in the West End and on Broadway.
Oscar winner Hanks bought the film rights via his Playtone production company.
Craymer is said to have rebuffed similar film pitches but liked Hanks' ideas, as well as his hand in the film adaptation of Nia Vardalos's one-woman show My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
