Emily Blunt is in serious talks to star as Mary Poppins in the sequel to the classic Disney film. John DeLuca and Marc Platt will be the producers, and Rob Marshall is set to direct the flick, which will take place 20 years after the events of the first movie. Sources say Blunt is the odds on favorite for the role since the actress, DeLuca, Platt and Marshall all worked together on "Into the Woods," according to Variety.
The film, to be set in Depression-era London, will pull material from P.L. Travers' Mary Poppins book series. The first novel in the series, simply titled "Mary Poppins," was used as the inspiration for the original movie with the same name (which starred Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke), and the remaining novels will make the framework for the new film. The story will revolve around a grown up Michael Banks, who is now a father. When times get tough, his older sister Jane returns and is soon followed by the beloved nanny Mary Poppins, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The original "Mary Poppins" film was a smash hit when it opened in 1964, and grossed more than $100 million at the box office, according to the New York Daily News. It went on to win five Academy Awards, including one for Andrews as Best Actress.
While Blunt is the favorite to win the role, it is not a given due to the actress' recent announcement that she is pregnant with her second child. Blunt can next be seen alongside Chris Hemsworth in "The Huntsman: The Winter's War," which opens April 22.
