Rob Marshall Calls His Upcoming Mary Poppins Film “an Extension”
In an age of remakes and reboots, sequels and prequels, it’s easy to be skeptical about our most beloved properties. We know, for example, that Disney has Rob Marshall directing a new Mary Poppins movie…and it’s easy to give it huge amounts of side-eye, because it looks suspiciously like a sequel. Well, Marshall himself is attempting to clarify.
In a recent interview with Vulture, Marshall had this to say about what his plans are for our beloved flying nanny:
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.
And while no one could ever replace Julie Andrews as the iconic Mary Poppins, Andrews herself is apparently thrilled with the new film, according to Marshall:
She is a very dear friend, and if she could be involved in some way, it would be very special. I know she is very happy that we’re doing it and, after 50 years, feels that it is time.
The film will apparently be set in 1934, which is when the original P.L. Travers book was published, but use stories from her subsequent books. So, it’s kinda like a half-sequel/half-reboot hybrid. I guess “extension” will have to be the word for now, until we come up with something better. (Or, until we stop going back to the same old wells for stories and get back to truly innovating in film again.)
How do you all feel about a new Mary Poppins, and what would you like to see?
(via /Film)
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