Mary Poppins Returns Release Date, Cast, Trailer, Story, and More News

Mary Poppins Returns has moved up its release date a week! The sequel will be coming out on December 19th, 2018.

Mary Poppins Returns is being directed by Rob Marshall, who worked with Emily Blunt on movie musical Into the Woods. The screenplay is coming from David Magee who wrote the screenplay for Finding Neverland, another film featuring a children’s book classic character. It’s not a reboot, though.

In conversation with Vulture, Marshall said that “it is not a new Mary Poppins,” and that “[author] P L Travers wrote eight books altogether. They worked from the first book, and we are working from the other books, not touching the iconic brilliance of Mary Poppins.”

“This is an extension,” he added. “I’m a huge fan of the original, and I’m a very good friend of Julie Andrews, and I hold it in such awe.”

Here’s everything we know so far about the sequel…

Mary Poppins Returns Release Date

Mary Poppins Returns has moved its release date up a week to December 19th, 2018.

Mary Poppins Returns Trailer

Here’s the full-length trailer for Mary Poppins Returns, filled with magic, music, and callbacks to the original film. We don’t want to spoil the surprise for you. Watch it yourself to find out what’s in store…

And here’s the first, shorter trailer for Mary Poppins Returns…

Mary Poppins Returns Cast

Mary Poppins Returnshas secured quite the cast. First, the news broke that Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow, Into the Woods) will be playing the title role, then the sequel secured Hamiltoncreator/star Lin-Manuel Miranda for the role of a “lamplighter” named Jack.

Miranda is having quite a year. In addition to the massive success of Hamilton,he also wrote original music for Star Wars: The Force Awakens(yep, that was his toe-tapping original composition in the cantina scene). He’s also composing music for Disney’s upcoming animated family film Moana.Presumably, Miranda’s involvement with the Mary Poppinssequel could include developing new songs for the film.

Original Mary Poppinscast memberVan Dyke was speaking to The Hollywood Reporter for series about creatives over the age of 90 when he dropped the good news, saying about the film:

This one supposedly takes place 20 years later and the kids are all grown up. It’s a great cast — Meryl Streep, Angela Lansbury and that guy [Lin-Manuel Miranda] from Hamilton.

Personally, I’m really glad that Van Dyke not only knows about Hamilton,but it was maybe a selling point for him returning for Mary Poppins Returns, up there with Meryl Streep and Angela Lansbury. Taking bets on whether Van Dyke will do the accent — or if he will return as chimney sweep Bert at all.

Meryl Streep is in the cast as the famous nanny’s cousin, Topsy.

Ben Whishaw, who is perhaps best known for his role as Q in the most recent James Bondfilms (but who has impressed in a sloew of projects, from TV’s The Hourand London Spyto film’s Cloud Atlasand Paddington), will play a grown-up version of Michael Banks, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Mary Poppins Returns picks up 20 years following the events of the 1964 film. When Banks experiences a person loss and sees the return of his big sister Jane, they team up with Mary Poppins and lamplighter friend Jack to help the family… and presumably to sing.

further reading: The Must See Movies of 2018

The “extension” of the Mary Poppinson-screen universe also nabbed Colin Firth. According to Variety, Firth will play play William Weatherall Wilkins, the president of Fidelity Fiduciary Bank. 

Mary Poppins Returns Story

The story will pick up 20 years following the events of the 1964 film during Depression-era London, drawing from author P.L. Travers’ later adventures with the Banks family. Michael Banks is all grown up and has brats of his own. He calls in his big sister Jane to keep them in line. She hooks up with nanny-cam ready Mary Poppins. 

Mary Poppins Returns takes its characters from the Mary Poppins books, but will be a sequel, not a new adaptation.

Here’s the official synopsis:

The film is set in 1930s depression-era London (the time period of the original novels) and is drawn from the wealth of material in PL Travers’ additional seven books. In the story, Michael (Ben Whishaw) and Jane (Emily Mortimer) are now grown up, with Michael, his three children and their housekeeper, Ellen (Julie Walters), living on Cherry Tree Lane. After Michael suffers a personal loss, the enigmatic nanny Mary Poppins (Blunt) re-enters the lives of the Banks family, and, along with the optimistic street lamplighter Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda), uses her unique magical skills to help the family rediscover the joy and wonder missing in their lives. Mary Poppins also introduces the children to a new assortment of colorful and whimsical characters, including her eccentric cousin, Topsy (Meryl Streep).