Meryl Streep In Talks To Join Cast Of 'Mary Poppins' Sequel

The hotly-anticipated sequel to Mary Poppins looks like it will boast a star-studded cast when it eventually arrives, with reports that Meryl Streep is set to join the project.

Variety reported on Thursday (July 28th) that the 67 year old screen legend is in talks to join previously confirmed stars Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda on Mary Poppins Returns, which is vaunted for a release on Christmas Day 2018.

Meryl Streep is in talks to join the cast of 'Mary Poppins Returns'

Streep is being tapped to play the role of Poppins’ cousin, Topsy, a part that would apparently require her to sing. If she signs up, she’ll not only be reuniting with fellow British-born star Blunt (they both starred in musically-based Into the Woods) but also with director Rob Marshall and producer Marc Platt from the same project.

Marshall will be directing from a screenplay by David Magee, with a score written by Marc Shaiman and songs by Shaiman and Scott Wittman.

More: Meryl Streep shows support for Hillary Clinton with rousing DNC speech

Disney is clearly aiming for a blockbusting piece of family-oriented fun with this sequel project, which will serve as a direct follow-on to the 1964 classic, which won five Academy Awards and was recently selected for preservation in the United States Film Registry.

33 year old Emily Blunt was the first star unveiled for Mary Poppins Returns earlier this year, and she has the unenviable task of filling Julie Andrews’ shoes in the title role. Miranda, 36, who recently quit his theatrical production of 'Hamilton' to focus on new projects, will be filling the ‘Dick Van Dyke’-style role of Jack.

The Hollywood Reporter describes the new film’s plot thus: “Jane and Michael Banks have experienced a personal loss that results in the arrival of the magical Mary Poppins. She teams up with her lamplighter friend Jack to help the family.” It will be set during the Great Depression, just as P.L. Travers’ original novels were.

More: Meryl Streep dons a fat suit and fake tan for Donald Trump satire