It was late last month when we brought you the news that Disney and Into The Woods director Rob Marshall were moving forward with a new Mary Poppins film, and even now, we’re struggling to shake off our lingering apprehensions.
Said to be set a full 20 years after the wondrous events of the 1964 classic, the House of Mouse offered precious few details on whether the modern tale would reboot the original, act as a remake, or spin off the story of the titular English nanny. Fast forward to today and Marshall himself has shed some light on the subject at hand.
Speaking with Vulture, the director noted that upon taking up the mantle to bring P.L. Travers’ iconic character back to the big screen, he considers his creative venture as more of an extension to the existing lore, as opposed to an out-and-out remake.
“It is not a new Mary Poppins…P.L. Travers wrote eight books all together. 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. 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…There is all this new material — it was the Harry Potter of its time — and they were never turned into anything further than that adventure.”
As Marshall points out, there remains a fair chunk of source material for Disney to explore, given that Travers continued the series in some shape or form from 1934 to 1988. Early reports had stipulated that the studio’s sequel would visit a Depression-era London, where the Banks family would once again serve as the narrative crux. Whether this is still the case, however, is up for question.
Aside from an official announcement – and rumors of Emily Blunt toplining the feature – there’s little-to-no information about Marshall’s Mary Poppins at this time, but we’ll be sure to keep you updated.
