2018's Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again used a surprising amount of CGI for a non-blockbuster movie, but why? Serving as a sequel to the smash hit 2008 musical Mamma Mia!, Here We Go Again saw the franchise's protagonist, Sophie Sheridan-Rymand (Amanda Seyfried), grappling with the impending arrival of her child. As she struggles between her duties to herself and to the island resort started by her late mother, Donna (Meryl Streep), she begins to wonder how her Mom accomplished everything that she did.
This cues up recurring flashbacks showing the formative years of Donna in her twenties (portrayed by Lily James). Viewers see Donna engaging in romantic flings with the three men who could be Sophie's father as well as discovering the island she'd devote her life to. All the while, Mamma Mia 2 features ABBA songs performed through elaborate musical numbers. Though it arrived ten years after its predecessor, Mamma Mia 2 managed to score major box office success. Grossing $395 million worldwide, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again became the 22nd biggest film at the 2018 worldwide box office.
While Mamma Mia 2 being a box office success wasn't a surprise, its use of CGI was. A video that went viral on Twitter (via @pinesteves) highlights just how much green screen was used for the film. Watching that behind-the-scenes footage, it's apparent that Mamma Mia 2's central use of CGI is in backgrounds. Though largely shot on location in Croatia, Mamma Mia 2 made heavy use of CGI to create many of its exterior sets, filming at Shepperton Studios in the UK. For example, the ocean view Sam (Pierce Brosnan) and Sophie soak in is a digital creation. Meanwhile, the set during Mamma Mia 2's end credits is CGI right down to the falling confetti. Cher's appearances, too, were all green screened in. For certain scenes, this employment of CGI can be attributed to the difficulty of filming on-location in the exterior locations of Here We Go Again. An actual island in Greece can be an ideal vacation spot. Accounting for weather, lighting, and other uncontrollable natural factors on that same island makes it far less ideal for filming movies. Making use of CGI sets removes those obstacles from the equation.
The attraction of avoiding those extra struggles is especially enticing on a musical like Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again. Filming musical numbers is already a massive undertaking considering the tasks of executing dance choreography, wrangling extras, and making sure the actors lip-sync to the songs they're supposed to be singing. Employing CGI backgrounds allowed the film's director, Ol Parker, to have one fully controlled element in these critical set pieces. Making the prospect of using CGI backgrounds all the more attractive is how going this route can help keep a movie's budget down.
Even considering all of these factors, it's still been seen as shocking that Mamma Mia 2 employed such a large amount of CGI. This can be chalked up to how it's not the kind of blockbuster movie (like a Marvel Cinematic Universe title) that audiences traditionally associate with heavy doses of VFX work. However, in reality, the vast majority of modern feature films make use of CGI wizardry. This is especially true in regards to their sets. The Wolf of Wall Street is a perfect example of this phenomenon. Despite being a Martin Scorsese drama, it utilized massive amounts of green-screen work and CGI enhancements for its sets. Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again's CGI-heavy sets are another example of how commonplace VFX work is in all modern cinema, blockbusters or otherwise.