Colin Firth Joins Disney's Mary Poppins Sequel

colin-firth

While Disney doesn’t plan shooting its planned musical Mary Poppins sequel until early next year, but it’s been busy building the cast to ensure it can have the best bunch of actors it can find. The latest to join is Colin Firth, according to Variety.

He will star alongside Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins, Ben Whishaw and Emily Mortimer as a grown-up Michael and Jane Banks, Hamilton’s Lin Manuel Miranda as lamplighter Jack (the equivalent of the Dick Van Dyke role) and Meryl Streep as Poppins’ cousin Topsy. Firth meanwhile will be William Weatherall Wilkins, president of Fidelity Fiduciary Bank.

The follow-up will be set in the 1930s and follow Michael and Jane Banks, as well as their children, after a major event takes place in their lives. That event results in the return of the magical Mary Poppins, who teams up with Jack to help the family.

Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Hairspray, Smash) will write the songs, with David Magee penning the script, based on PL Travers other Poppins stories. Rob Marshall is set to direct, with a December 2018 release date set.