British actress Emily Blunt, best known for her roles in The Devil Wears Prada and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, is in talks to take on the iconic role of Mary Poppins in Disney’s forthcoming sequel to the 1964 movie that won Julie Andrews her only Oscar.
Directed by Rob Marshall, previously Academy nominated for Chicago, the new film will see the disciplinarian cloud-dwelling nanny reappearing 20 years after sticking her nose into the Victorian suffragette movement and indirectly causing a banking crisis. She also sang songs and encouraged diabetes through self-medication in the quasi-horror fable beloved by families worldwide.
In the film, Poppins absconds by way of enchanted umbrella before she can answer questions regarding her connection with rigging a horse race and the sudden disappearance – and presumed murder – of more than 100 nannies in a freak microclimate accident.
Mary Poppins was created by writer PL Travers, with the original musical film largely inspired by the 1934 text. The final book in the series was published in 1988, and the wealth of Travers’ seven novels has formed the basis for the new live-action film.
The sequel will focus on the grown-up Michael Banks, a kite-flying fantasist with abandonment issues, struggling to connect with his own children in Depression-era London. Jane, his sister, will also return.
Emily Blunt was linked to the role almost as soon as it was announced last September, and the Hollywood Reporter has revealed that talks are underway to secure her the part.
