Whatever your thoughts may be on the upcoming release of the much-talked-about sequel to Disney's beloved Mary Poppins, it's getting closer to the film's release. In cinemas December this year, the family favourite is being given a fresh lease of life for modern audiences.
You'll be seeing plenty on the anticipated movie over the coming months as the release date draws ever-closer, and Disney has started their promotion machine by releasing the first cast photo from it today, giving audiences a sneek peek of what to expect.
In the snap, Devil Wears Prada star and leading actress Emily Blunt looks very much the part as the iconic Mary Poppins, while her co-star Lin Manuel Miranda has transformed into Jack, a new character in the remake. The image sees Mary and Jack ride a bike with Michael Banks' children, played by Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh and newcomer Joel Dawson.
The costumes are very reminiscent of the original, which means the filmmakers, while adding plenty of new touches to the story, won't stray too far from the charm that made audiences fall in love with it in the first place.
It can't have been easy stepping into the shoes of an iconic character, but Blunt told Vanity Fair that she was up to the challenge, despite the nerves:
She said she had a brief moment of "cold-sweat dread about succeeding an iconic person playing an iconic character," but knew that it was going to work, she needed her own take on the world-famous nanny. “No one can out-Julie Julie Andrews, so I had to do something that felt organic and representative of what I had taken from the books.”
But Blunt, who “doesn’t see fear” when it comes to challenges, according to the film's director Rob Marshall (who famously directed Chicago in 2002), more than rose to the occasion. She shot the most difficult numbers right when filming began, including a 15-minute choreographed song-and-dance sequence alongside co-star Lin-Manuel Miranda, children, and “small male dancers in green-screen costumes.”
Mary Poppins Returns will be released on December 25th.
