September 12, 2017
The girl on the train is about to become the nanny under the umbrella.
Emily Blunt, who starred in last year’s mystery-thriller, "The Girl on the Train," now returns in the fantasy-comedy sequel, "Mary Poppins Returns," as Mary Poppins.
She inherits the title role – 54 years later, the fourth-longest time lapse in movie history -- from Julie Andrews, who won 1964’s Best Actress Oscar for her iconic performance as the magical nanny who comes to work for a banker and his family and introduces them, and us, to the concept of supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
The original, a partially animated adaptation of books by P. L. Travers, was nominated for 13 – count ‘em, 13 – Oscars, including Best Picture, and won five. The follow-up is set in London during the Depression, when the title character drops in on now-grown Jane and Michael Banks and Michael’s three children following a family tragedy.
That’s when they could surely use Mary’s unique skills, as well as the help of her friend, Jack, a street lamplighter played by the creator and star of Broadway’s “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda. The director is Rob Marshall, who, in addition to being Oscar-nominated for "Chicago," has also been at the helm of "Into the Woods," "Memoirs of a Geisha," and "Nine."
And Meryl Streep is aboard as a cousin, as are Colin Firth, Emily Mortimer, and the cameoing Dick Van Dyke (but not playing Bert, his character from the original).
You can get in line for your spoonsful of sugar next December.
