Emily Mortimer has joined the Mary Poppins Returns cast, reports Variety. Mortimer will play Jane Banks, who along with her brother Michael (Ben Whishaw), was one of the children the magical titular nanny looked after in the original 1964 film, and is now all-grown-up. The movie is set 25 years after the original.
“It’s straight up a sequel,” Lin-Manuel Miranda said previously, “Michael and Jane Banks have grown up, and they find themselves in their own spot, and Mary Poppins comes back to take care of Michael’s kids. I play a lamplighter named Jack who sort of grew up apprenticing to Bert (Dick Van Dyke’s character in the 1964 film). So I know if Mary Poppins shows up, it’s gonna get awesome. I perform that function in the movie, of saying: ‘Y’all don’t know about Mary Poppins. When Mary’s around, cool sh– happens.’“
Reuniting the director and producing team behind Disney’s hit film musical Into the Woods, Mary Poppins Returns will be directed by Oscar nominee, Emmy and DGA Award winner Rob Marshall and produced by Marshall, Emmy winner and Golden Globe nominee John DeLuca and Oscar, Emmy and Tony Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Marc Platt. The screenplay will be written by Oscar nominee David Magee based on The Mary Poppins Stories by P.L. Travers, with Oscar nominee and Tony Award winner Marc Shaiman composing an all-new score and Shaiman and Emmy nominee and Tony Award winner Scott Wittman writing original songs.
Drawing from the wealth of material in P.L. Travers’ seven additional novels, the story will take place in Depression-era London (when the books were originally written) and follows a now-grown Jane and Michael Banks, who, along with Michael’s three children, are visited by the enigmatic Mary Poppins following a personal loss. Through her unique magical skills, and with the aid of her friend Jack, she helps the family rediscover the joy and wonder missing in their lives.
Mary Poppins Returns will open in theaters on December 25, 2018.
