When Hollywood legend Meryl Streep took “six screaming 11-year-olds” to see Mamma Mia! on Broadway to provide them with some relief from the horrors of 9/11, she enjoyed herself so much that she wrote the cast a fan letter. That letter, which found its way to the producer Judy Craymer, was the first step in the show's long journey to Hollywood.

Mamma Mia!, which has been playing in London since 1999, has become a global phenomenon. Thirty million people have seen the show worldwide and sung along to Abba's hits from Dancing Queen to The Winner Takes It All and it has taken an estimated $2 billion at the theatre box office from Moscow to Osaka to Daegu and Seongnam in Korea.

“They are mad for musicals in Korea and Mamma Mia! has been a huge hit,” says Ms Craymer, who was born and bred in North London and began her career working alongside Sir Cameron Mackintosh at a touring theatre company.

The show's worldwide success - which Ms Craymer puts down to the story line about the relationship between a mother and daughter “which appeals to all cultures”, allied to the popularity of Abba's music - brought Hollywood knocking on her door at an early stage. However, she had reservations. She was aware of the challenges in bringing a successful stage musical to the big screen.

“Producing a film is not for the faint hearted,” she says. “But musicals adapted for the cinema can run the risk of being pigeon-holed. I had to work hard convincing a lot people who thought musicals were not particularly hip that Mamma Mia! was different.

“They soon realised that it wasn't a typical musical. Meryl Streep gets 007 [Pierce Brosnan] and Darcy [Colin Firth] and 007 sings Abba songs. Even 15-year-olds swoon at Darcy and 007,” says Ms Craymer, adding that at a test screening of the film for 13-year-olds in San Diego in March the children were up dancing for the duration.

She admits that she was concerned about losing control if Mamma Mia! found itself in the hands of a Hollywood studio, so a decision to join forces with Universal did not come overnight. “I knew that if we were going to make a film, I wanted Hollywood involved, as we needed the big machine of a major studio to make this a success. The handling of the film internationally was very important, as we needed it to be released in all countries simultaneously. But control was a big issue.”

And she ensured she got control. “I have been working on the film every day for the past year-and-a-half.”

The setting for the film, an idyllic Greek island full of lush bougainvillea and whitewashed villas, was also important - Ms Craymer insisted that this would be a “real film” without the stage-like set of recent cinematic musicals such as Chicago.

With the added contribution of a raft of high-profile executive producers, including Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, and the former Abba members Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, the studio expects the film to be an international money-spinner. It has already taken more than £10 million at the British box office since its release on July 11 and is today set for US and international release. A relief for Universal, no doubt, which admits to spending significantly more than the average £40 million marketing budget.

Despite the large budget, marketing Mamma Mia! presented a challenge because Abba always insisted that its music was not used for advertising. David Kosse, the president of Universal Pictures International, and Ms Craymer made regular visits to Stockholm to meet Abba's Benny and Bjorn. The result was a television advert in Britain for Maltesers, the first time Abba music has been used in a promotion, and a campaign for a Swedish biscuit brand.

Abba needed assurance that the adverts clearly promoted the film, not just chocolate bars. It is, after all, in their interest to make the film a success, promoting their love 'em or hate 'em disco hits to younger generations. The film's soundtrack is currently one of iTunes' bestsellers.

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