Walt Disney Pictures appears to have found a star for their upcoming Mary Poppins sequel. According to a story today at The Hollywood Reporter, Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow, Sicario) has entered talks to take over the role made famous by Julie Andrews. The move would reteam Blunt with her Into the Woods director, Rob Marshall.
Originally the central character in a series of children’s books by P.L. Travers, Mary Poppins was famously adapted for the screen in 1964. Dick Van Dyke co-starred in the Robert Stevenson film, which told the story of a magical nanny who comes to care for a British family, the Banks.
The original Mary Poppins was set in the year 1910 and it is believed that the sequel will take place in the 1930s. As reported when the project was first announced last fall, the aim is for the new film to borrow story elements from Travers’ eight Mary Poppins books, including the first literary sequel, Mary Poppins Comes Back. Time will tell if Disney winds up using that as the new film’s official title.
The real world story behind Disney’s Mary Poppins was itself the focus of John Lee Hancock’s 2013 feature, Saving Mr. Banks. Scripted by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith, Saving Mr. Banks stars Emma Thompson as Travers and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney.
The Mary Poppins sequel will be produced by John DeLuca and Marc Platt, who also worked with Marshall on Into the Woods.
