ABBA – The Movie restorations and remasterings

Over the past two decades there have been several restorations and remasterings of ABBA – The Movie. With fan event screenings coming up in Europe in September, fans have been asking about what sort of restoration is being shown. Here I’ve tried to compile all the restorations in the 21st century.

In 2003 the Swedish Film Institute (SFI) restored the film. A gala premiere was held in Stockholm on 3 December 2003, with Benny and Frida in attendance. This version had several screenings in Stockholm – one screening just happened to be when I was visiting in 2004.  

Universal Music remastered the film in high-definition in 2005 for DVD (released on 25 September) and future HD releases on HD DVD (26 November 2007) and Blu-ray disc (12 December 2007). Blu-ray won that format war, and the HD DVD was discontinued in 2008. To celebrate the DVD release a cinema in Sydney, Australia hosted a screening, but it was an original, unrestored, faded 70s print.

Also in 2005 Warner Bros. in the US had been preparing a DVD release. Warners had distribution rights for the film in many countries including the US on its original release in 1978. This was cancelled with Universal preparing their own version.

On 13 August 2008 cinemas across Europe held one-off screenings of a “digitally remastered” version of the film. I don’t know if this might have been the SFI version, the DVD/Blu-ray remaster, or another remaster.

In the mid-2010s Universal remastered the film in 4K resolution. This version has had screenings in Europe, but it was announced it will not be released on disc. It has been shown in a local cinema for the International ABBA Weekend in Roosendaal a couple of times – I caught one showing in 2017. 

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of ABBA’s Australian tour, in March 2017 the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) in Canberra held a screening and ABBA event. The same weekend a cinema in Brisbane also held a screening. I don’t know what print the NFSA holds. The Brisbane cinema screened was the Blu-ray.

Trafalgar Releasing, a UK based company that promotes special cinema events around the world, held screenings in North America in May 2022. This version was remastered in 2K by Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging.

Trafalgar Releasing is now holding screenings across Europe in mid-September 2023. This will presumably be the same 2K remaster, plus “exclusive” additional material including “an insight from the creators of the phenomenally successful London-based concert ABBA: Voyage, plus a glimpse at ABBA The Museum in Stockholm, lyric videos from hit songs, and extremely rare behind-the-scenes footage from the 1977 tour.” The American sessions in 2022 had the lyric videos ‘Chiquitita‘, ‘Waterloo‘, and ‘Voulez-Vous’ but no other additional features.

Prime Video streaming service in the US also has ABBA – The Movie in its library. The listing features the same artwork as the cancelled Warner Bros. DVD, similar to the Trafalgar Releasing advertising. It may be the version that was to be used for the cancelled Warner Bros. DVD or the Trafalgar Releasing version.