Disney has hired Into the Woods and Chicago director Rob Marshall to helm a new musical starring Mary Poppins.
The new movie will use P.L. Travers’ children books series starring Mary Poppins for story material, reports Entertainment Weekly.
Hairspray and Smash songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman have been hired to write new songs for the musical, and Finding Neverland and Life of Pi screenwriter David Magee has been selected to write the screenplay.
“The new Poppins film will take place in Depression-era London, some 20 years after Disney’s classic Mary Poppins, and will draw from existing Poppins tales in the rest of author P.L. Travers’ 1934-1988 children’s book series,” writes EW. “The practically perfect 1964 screen adaptation starring Julie Andrews pulled its story primarily from the first installment in Travers’ eight-book series; the new project (which is decidedly not being developed as a sequel) will explore Mary’s further adventures with the Banks family and beyond as illustrated by Travers’ seven additional novels.”
EW adds that “Disney and Marshall are collaborating with the Travers estate and have already earned support from Poppins’ co-composer Richard Sherman,” so it sounds like the project has the respect of the people closest to the original Mary Poppins.
In recent months Disney has been working on creating new, live-action versions of their animated classics including Dumbo, Aladdin, and Mulan. Today’s report suggests they’re considering breathing new life into the live-action classics too.
The new Mary Poppins movie is still very early in the development process. As such, there’s no release date at this time.
Given all the details we’re cautiously optimistic about this Mary Poppins “sequel” of sorts. Is it too early to ask Julie Andrews for a cameo?
The original Mary Poppins hit theaters in 1964. Its development was documented in the recent Disney drama Saving Mr. Banks starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson, which depicted the relationship between Walt Disney and P.L. Travers.
Related: Nine Mary Poppins facts Saving Mr. Banks did not get right
Source: Entertainment Weekly
We want to hear your thoughts on this topic!
Write a comment below or submit an article to Hypable.