Photo: Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images
While many of us weren’t around yet when Mary Poppins first came out in 1964, most of us are familiar with the story: a British family hires an unusually cheerful nanny, who lands from the skies with a suitcase and an umbrella. The film, which was a loosely-based adaptation of P.L. Travers’ series of books, is considered as Walt Disney’s “crowning achievement.” It’s going to have its sequel, called Mary Poppins Returns, and we found photos of the world’s first look!
The titular nanny will be portrayed by Emily Blunt.
She has huge shoes to fill since Julie Andrews took on the role 53 years ago, but Blunt has already proven herself after the movie adaptation of the musical Into the Woods. Even Andrews loves the idea, saying, “Oh, wonderful!”
Mary Poppins Returns will be set in 1935, 25 years after the first movie’s 1910 setting. The story is reportedly about Michael Banks, a boy in the original movie, who experiences a personal loss. Of course, Poppins is the only person who can comfort him.
However, Blunt told Entertainment Weekly that people will see a different side to Poppins. She said, “We’re delving into the books a lot more, which is a different version of the character, I’ll say that much.
She’s a little meaner, yeah.”
The Banks children, originally played by Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber, will be portrayed as adults by Emily Mortimer and Ben Whishaw.
Photo: PA Images
They will be joined by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Meryl Streep, Angela Lansbury, Julie Walters, and Colin Firth. Dick Van Dyke, who plays Poppins’ best friend Bert, will return.
The film will be directed by Rob Marshall, who directed the film adaptation of the musical Chicago, which won six Academy Awards (and being nominated for seven more), as well as Memoirs of a Geisha, Nine, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and Into the Woods.
Mary Poppins Returns premieres on Christmas day in 2018, which means an early 2019 release for the Philippines, because of the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).
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