The shooting of Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again (MM2) on the island of Vis is seen as a blessing by some. Others, like Mr. Peša, see it as a curse. But the majority sees it as a double-edged sword and accepts it with a good sense of caution. They know too well what happened after the first part of the Hollywood musical was shot on the Greek island of Skopelos, and why Greece is now being "played" by Vis in the second part of the film.
Vis plays the role of Greece
Mamma Mia, filmed in 2008, had a budget of 52 million dollars, but made a profit of 609 million dollars. The Greek island of Skopelos, with a population of 5,000, experienced a boom in tourism. However its angry inhabitants say there was no boom, but only a flood of tourists. Accommodation prices on the once hidden Aegean pearl rose overnight, as did the prices of real estate, restaurants and life in general. Prices have risen to that extent that the island locals find it difficult to afford to live on their own island.
The initial plans of the creators of Mamma Mia to shoot the sequel on the same location was unanimously rejected by the island i.e. it set a much higher price, and so the production of the film has moved to Vis. "If they would at least mention that the story is happening in Vis, in Croatia, but no, we're now playing the role of Greece," laments Peša.
Mr. Peša admits that he is more or less a lone rider when it comes to his angry rhetoric against the shooting of Mamma Mia 2 on Vis. But it is also a fact that the island locals are mostly indifferent – surprisingly indifferent – towards the production, about which Croatia's media reports on a daily basis. That even goes for the around 3,600 locals involved in the filming in one way or another. "Ah, these Hollywood people have occupied our island," a waiter at the Aerodrom, a wine shop located in an adapted former military airport, rolls her eyes.
Locals engaged but indifferent
Apart from one older hotel in Komiža, there are no real hotels on the island of Vis. There are no campsites either. Thousands of the film crew members have been accommodated in private apartments and camper vans parked in the outskirts of the towns of Vis and Komiža. Locals have rented out everything, from their boat houses and yards to their chicken, donkeys and lemon trees. The film producers have also hired locals as extras. They auditioned both children and pensioners in the Neptun abandoned sardine processing plant in Komiža.
According to some estimates around 4 million euros will remain in Vis once the filming is finished (the filming might drag on to mid-October because of bad weather). However, the restaurant owners which hoped to be fully booked will gain almost nothing – Mamma Mia 2 has its own catering service from England.
Talking with the locals it seems they would be prepared to give up all those dollars, in order not to have to put up with the Hollywood circus for much longer. A circus which further disturbs their peace, after having survived another summer invasion of tourists.