Big news, Broadway and Disney fans: Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda have officially been confirmed as co-leads for Mary Poppins Returns. The film, hailed as a sequel to the original 1964 movie starring Julie Andrews, has a current release date of December 25th, 2018. Whereas Blunt will be taking on the role of Full Metal Nanny Mary Poppins herself, Miranda will be playing an all-new character, a lamplighter named Jack. No details about his character have been confirmed quite yet aside from his name and occupation, but it’s not hard to imagine that Miranda’s performance will likely contain bits of Dick Van Dyke’s iconic take on Bert’s chimney sweep.
Both of these stars have a proven track record when it comes to acting as well as singing. Blunt starred in Into the Woods in 2014, playing the Baker’s Wife opposite James Corden. And, of course, Miranda’s work on Hamilton and The Force Awakens are nothing short of masterful. It’ll be exciting seeing these two on the big screen playing in P.L. Travers’ universe.
Rob Marshall, who coincidentally also directed Into the Woods, will be directing this sequel. It’ll be penned by David Magee (Life of Pi, Finding Neverland). There’s no news yet whether Miranda will be lending his songwriting chops to the project, as songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman have already been confirmed as the people heading up that department. Let’s be honest, though, they’d be foolish to keep him from doing his thing here, right?
The film is said to focus on the same children from the first movie, Jane and Michael Banks, but this time, they’re all grown up with kids of their own. Mary Poppins visits them in that way that she does to help them find happiness once again in a time marked by deep, personal loss within a world afflicted by the Great Depression.
Here’s hoping that we’ll be celebrating a jolly holiday with Mary.
(via Broadway.com)
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