Disney has announced the title, synopsis, and release date of their upcoming sequel to Mary Poppins. The film will be called Mary Poppins Returns and is scheduled for release on December 25, 2018.
The sequel will star Emily Blunt as Mary and Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the Broadway hit Hamilton, as a new character named Jack. Jack is described as a lamplighter and a friend of Mary’s.
The story will follow a now-grown Jane and Michael Banks who, along with Michael’s three children, are once again visited by Mary. Mary and Jack work to help the family rediscover joy following a personal loss. The story will take place in depression-era London, which was also the setting of the books.
Disney announced the film back in April, along with eight other live-action films in development. The studio had also announced the Christmas Day, 2018 release date for an untitled live action movie, which we now know is Mary Poppins Returns.
The film will be written by Finding Neverland‘s David Magee and directed by Chicago‘s Rob Marshall. Marshall previously directed Disney’s adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods, which also starred Blunt. Into the Woods was also released on Christmas Day.
Marshall said in a statement, “I am truly humbled and honored to be asked by Disney to bring P.L. Travers’s further adventures to the screen. The iconic original film means so much to me personally, and I look forward to creating an original movie musical that can bring Mary Poppins, and her message that childlike wonder can be found in even the most challenging of times, to a whole new generation.”
The film will be a sequel to the classic 1964 Disney film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. The film was adapted from the Mary Poppins book series by P.L. Travers. The making of the film was fictionalized for the 2013 Disney film Saving Mr. Banks, which starred Emma Thompson as Travers and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney.