Friday, 10 February 2017
Production Has Begun On Mary Poppins Returns!
Last year, we found out that Lin-Manuel Miranda and Emily Blunt were cast in an all-new sequel to the 1964 Disney classic Mary Poppins, called Mary Poppins Returns. We’ve even watched as Lin-Manuel toured around to some iconic locations from the 1964 film. Today, we’ve received even more practically perfect news: Production is under way for Mary Poppins Returns! With this amazing news, we also received more insight into the story of the film and the casting.
The world first met Mary Poppins in the book by P.L. Travers, which was of course adapted into the 1964 film that we know and love, starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. As kids and as adults, we have always loved the classic film and the story of the Banks family. The world at the time also loved the film, as it was nominated for 13 Academy Awards.
P.L. Travers did write seven additional books that continued the tale of Mary Poppins, but they have never been brought to film. Until now! Mary Poppins Returns is set in 1930s London, which is the time period of the original novels by P.L. Travers. The story follows Michael (Ben Whishaw) and Jane Banks (Emily Mortimer), who are now grown up. Michael is living with his three children (Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, and Joel Dawson) and housekeeper Ellen (Julie Walters), in the house on Cherry Tree Lane! After Michael has a personal loss, Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) comes back into the lives of the Banks family. She is joined by a street lamplighter named Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda), and an eccentric cousin named Topsy (Meryl Streep). And we are so excited that Dick Van Dyke will play a role in the film as Mr. Dawes Jr., the chairman of Fidelity Fiduciary Bank, which is now run by William Weatherall Wilkins (Colin Firth). We could not be more excited for this cast!
The creative team for Mary Poppins Returns is also absolutely amazing. The film is directed by Rob Marshall (Into the Woods, Chicago) and produced by John DeLuca (Chicago) and Marc Platt (La La Land). The screenplay is written by David Magee (Life of Pi) and is based on “The Mary Poppins Stories” by P.L. Travers. Marc Shaiman (“Hairspray”) and Scott Wittman (“Hairspray”) will also be writing all new songs, with Shaiman composing an original score. They are joined by director of photography Dion Beebe, ASC ACS (Memoirs of a Geisha), production designer John Myhre (Memoirs of a Geisha, Chicago), costume designer Sandy Powell (The Young Victoria, The Aviator, Shakespeare in Love), hair and make-up designer Peter Swords King (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), set decorator Gordon Sim (Chicago), production sound mixer Simon Hayes (Les Misérables), and editor Wyatt Smith (Doctor Strange, Into the Woods). The film is choreographed by Marshall and DeLuca with Joey Pizzi (Chicago) serving as co-choreographer.
Julie Andrews, who played Mary Poppins in the 1964 film, recently spoke to ABC News about Mary Poppins Returns. When asked about Emily Blunt taking on the role of Mary Poppins, Andrews said, “I think she’ll be practically perfect.” We couldn’t agree more.
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