A few days ago it was revealed that Emily Blunt was in talks to play Mary Poppins in Disney’s planned new take on the classic nanny character (they’re keen to say it’s not a sequel, even though it is). Now she may have the person who would be the equivalent of her Dick Van Dyke, as Variety reports that Lin-Manuel Miranda, best known for starring in (and writing the songs for) the Broadway hit Hamilton, is in negotiations for the film.
Assuming he signs on, Miranda would play ‘Jack, a lamplighter resembling the character of Bert, who was famously played by Dick Van Dyke’.
While the 1960s movie was mainly based in the first of Travers’ books, the new movie will explore Mary’s further adventures with the Banks family and beyond as illustrated by Travers’ seven additional novels. The most recent reports suggest it will see Mary returning to help a grown-up Michael and Jane Banks after a major events takes place in their lives.
Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Hairspray, Smash) will write the songs, and the film apparently has the support of original Mary Poppins co-composer, Richard Sherman. Rob Marshall is set to direct.
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