Emily Blunt In Talks To Play Mary Poppins In Disney Sequel

British actress Emily Blunt could be in line to reprise one of the most famous roles in the history of film, with new reports indicating that she’s in talks to play Mary Poppins in a sequel movie.

Variety reported on Thursday (February 18th) that the 32 year old star has been Disney’s favoured actor for the part for some time, and that the studio hopes to get production under way as soon as possible.

It also states that Rob Marshall is on board with the project as director, with John DeLuca and Marc Platt in production roles. Blunt has worked with all three previously on Into the Woods, and it’s claimed that all parties have already been in discussions about how to bring the magical nanny back to life.

However, Sicario actress Blunt is currently pregnant with her second child, so it is unknown whether this would affect scheduling or Blunt’s possible commitment to the project, or whether Disney might opt for another actress.

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The original 1964 movie starred Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins, employed by a wealthy but unhappy banker to look after his children, with Dick Van Dyke famously producing one of finest ‘worst accents’ of all time with his attempt at Cockney that could peel the enamel from your teeth. It grossed over $100 million, winning five Oscars and becoming one of the most iconic movies of all time.

The reports cites “insiders” at Disney who say that the new movie would be set 20 years after the original in Depression-era London, with PL Travers’ children’s books about Poppins’ further adventures with the Banks family used as source material.

If the reports are true, it means that Disney will yet again be making money from live-action reboots of its classic canon. It has enjoyed huge success doing so with Cinderella, and the likes of Pinocchio, Beauty and the Beast and The Jungle Book are already in the pipeline.

Of course, Disney recently drew on Mary Poppins back in 2013 for the film Saving Mr. Banks, which detailed the efforts that Disney went to in order to secure the movie rights for PL Travers’ book, in which the author was played by Emma Thompson.

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