Emily Blunt in Talks to Play Mary Poppins in Sequel Film From Rob Marshall
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Emily Blunt may be our new Mary Poppins!
[UPDATE: Credit where credit is due! I just found out Den of Geek broke this story last September. Make sure to give them a link back if you’re talking about it!]
Variety reports:
Emily Blunt is in talks to star in Disney’s sequel to “Mary Poppins” with Rob Marshall set to direct.
John DeLuca and Marc Platt will serve as producers on the pic. Sources say Blunt has always been the favorite since all four worked together on “Into the Woods.” With Disney looking to get the film into production soon, the studio recently met with the actress to discuss the idea of playing the magical nanny.
The deal is not yet set in stone due to scheduling. News recently broke that Blunt is expecting her second child and that may play into her decision.
The 1964 Disney film starring Julie Andrews in the title role along with Dick Van Dyke is an absolute classic. Not the least of which is because they featured animation mixed with live action.
But what would a sequel to Mary Poppins actually look like? Variety writes, “Insiders confirm the new film will take place in Depression-era London 20 years after the first film and will take story lines from P.L. Travers’ children books focusing on Poppins’ continued adventures with the Banks family.”
Disney has taken liberties in the past by going in a completely different direction from one of their animated classics (Maleficent) or sticking fairly true to the original (Cinderella).Considering what we’ve seen from reboots and sequels in the last few years this sounds fairly mild and inoffensive. And while I think they certainly could have thought outside the box as far as casting the lead, I think Blunt is a great pick for the role. She’ll next be seen taking an evil turn in The Huntsman: Winter’s War for Universal Pictures.