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ABBA was never cool. That is an important fact. Instead, they cohabitated with The Partridge Family and Donny and Marie in a corporate/cultural reaction to the frightening incursion of unclean singers and doped rockers into the charts. If David Gates of Bread would shock families by dying of heroin, and if Jim Croce would disillusion the fans, then it was time for entirely controlled acts, whether that control was from outside (as in the Osmonds or Patridges) or inside (Bjorn's control of ABBA). Pro's could take over from the scary singer songwriters and teenagers with bands.
ABBA's formulation of safety was Douglas Sirk films done as song. They were never far from show tunes. Musically, they were sophisticated, but not innovative, and lyrically and visually, they were stage performers. As camp has embraced all things Sirkian, both satirically and genuinely, ABBA had to come back, and the time will soon come for the Partridges.
Camp's satirical barbs make good corporate sense for people who never gave up on the idea of an entirely safe, 100% appeal product. The Broadway "Mama Mia!" got bad reviews, as I recall, and actually struggled quite a bit (just as "Movin' Out" did). However, critics have a limited power in the face of waves of tourists, and the corporate forces behind the play advertised to out-of-towners: this is a "safe" and "fun" play. This is a "musical" the way you expect it.
The film of "Mama Mia!" is going to be the same situation: actors and even technical folks winking in camp, and audiences looking for a respite from a crumbling nation, and corporate interests congratulating themselves that they know how to create the 100% appeal product, and no song writers needed.
