So cometh the Abbacalypse.

Mamma Mia! - the film spawned from a stage musical itself spawned from the music of Swedish pop titans Abba - is blasting out from cinema screens, showering spectators with seventies smash hits and a summer holiday storyline that sounds like a really bad Mills & Boon novel going by the way of a Mediterranean disco. It’s a film guaranteed to be a hit thanks to its association with the ever-popular Scandinavian foursome and its established existence as a Broadway show, but Mamma Mia! is also a big draw thanks to the prospect of star names singing, dancing and just generally camping it up on a Greek island.

Are you looking for something outlandish amidst the onslaught of comic-book blockbusters? Here’s Julie Walters warbling away to her heart’s content and geriatrically body-popping along to Dancing Queen! If you are not absolutely aghast and freaked out enough yet, prepare for several double-takes as the world you knew turns on its head (and subsequently goes into a spectacular split-kick). Yes that is Meryl Streep melodramatically memo-ing along to The Winner Takes It All. The Academy Award-winning actor renowned for powerful performances in films like The Deer Hunter and Sophie’s Choice is indeed now busting her lungs out in the frothiest film to hit cinemas since, erm, Sex and the City.

Not weird enough for you yet? Ladies and gentleman, the perverse minds who’ve concocted this perky pop confection present the all-singing, all-dancing Pierce Brosnan. The man who until very recently was James Bond is now mincing about in the cinematic equivalent of seaside hen night karaoke. 007 has now been reduced to howling out the hackneyed lyrics of Benny and Bjorn, losing his suave, sophisticated edge in the process of accepting this ‘license to trill’. In one fell swoop Brosnan has cast off what he recently referred to in a TV interview as “the ghost of Bond”, flushing away all the fanboys, fangirls and fixed visions of him being a rugged, world-saving action hero. Now he’s a lovesick sop looking to rekindle old relationships on summer vacation and express his feelings through the medium of middle-of-the-road smörgåspop. There is no hope then: even MI6’s finest are powerless against the advance of the Abbacalypse…

Have they all lost the plot? Au contraire: it’s a carefully considered career move that complies with a current Hollywood trend and it offers the individual a bit of eclectic variety. Should Streep be confined to a lifetime of deep roles with no option for light relief? Of course not, and likewise Brosnan needed something suitably different from the Bond formula after hanging up his Walther PPK and vodka martini. They’re not the only stars to find themselves at something of a crossroads and subsequently select the most rhythmic route to go by. For example, look to that hip-and-happening musical tribute to multiracialism and 1960s Baltimore, the recent remake of Hairspray.

After years without a knockout success and simple fame mainly based on being a pudgy Scientologist who likes to fly his own plane, John Travolta dressed in drag and surrendered himself to the beat as Edna Turnblad to boost himself back into the public conscience. Likewise, “King of Kookiness” Christopher Walken joined the fun as Travolta’s timid husband and in the process completely threw viewers. How do you keep things interesting when you’ve had as lengthy a career as Walken’s and taken on so many different roles?

Evidently the answer is to unleash the inner musical artiste and embrace for even more unusual parts. By letting loose their inhibitions and stepping up to face the music and dance, Hollywood’s has-beens and have-always-beens-but-are-now-just-a-bit-bored get a kick out of playing counter to expectation and indulging in some cathartic wackiness. Another bonus is that in doing so they catapult their persona back onto a stunned public, push themselves into the higher star circles and find that they are once again in demand and back at the top of the box office.

As it is then, taking singing lessons and salsa classes may be a better remedy than an extensive spell in rehab for those jaded actors joylessly treading water or chewing the scenery in tepid flicks that fail to catch fire. Despair no more oh depressed Hollywood stars! Do you want a fresh challenge? Do you want audiences to be amazed and pleasantly surprised by your musical prowess and fancy-footwork? Do you want critical acclaim, box office hits and a shot at awards again?

Then indulge in some escapist frivolity and get footloose! At this rate expect to see Jodie Foster stretching her vocal chords in a big-screen version of Wicked and Bruce Willis belting out the big numbers from Jesus Christ Superstar. Marvellous: the Hollywood Hills are alive with the sound of music!