Director Rob Marshall told an audience last night that Mary Poppins was the first film he had ever seen. Marshall was talking to Marc Platt as part of the AFI Fest In Conversation series. He explained that his love for musicals began after that.
Marshall who directed Chicago and Into The Woods said that Mary Poppins Returns gave him the chance to develop a musical from scratch. “You’re not going from stage to screen, you’re creating something for the screen and the only way to create it was to see it first in my head.” He added, “It was a dream come true.”
He referenced the PJ Travers book, but he recruited his creative team, David Magee, John DeLuca and songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Witman to collaborate with him. Of the story, Marshall told the audience how he recruited his cast.
Ben Whishaw plays the older Michael Banks. Marshall said Whishaw told him, “Mary Poppins was why I wanted to become an actor.” And with that, he was cast.
Marshall had nothing but high praises for his Mary Poppins played by Emily Blunt. “You have to be a great actress to be able to play that stern, reserved woman who has a child underneath there.” He went on to say, “She also had to be warm and funny. You have to be able to sing and dance. And she’s British.” He said of Blunt. “She makes the role her own.” Marshall explained how Blunt was his first and only choice. “Emily Blunt was the only choice. Ever since The Devil Wears Prada I thought ‘she’s going to have a career like Maggie Smith and work until she’s 150 years old.’ ”
For Lin-Manuel Miranda who had never done a movie before, Marshall liked his theatrical background. “He has something so authentic. I believe he wants to go on adventures with her.”
Marshall cast Meryl Streep as Topsy Turvy, a quirky character in the film who is a male character in the books. “The best part of asking Meryl to do this was John (DeLuca) and I sat down with Kevin (Huvane – Marshall and Streep share the same agent) and I asked if she’d be interested in doing this.” Apparently, Streep had been waiting for Marshall to call. She replied to him on him saying, “Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.”
The film Marshall says is a gift of joy, love and optimism. “I wanted to bring hope, a ray of light into a world that’s very dark right now.” Streep told him she wanted to be a part of sending that message out.
The audience were treated to a clip of Trip A Little Bit Of Light Fantastic after the conversation. And let’s just say, it’s practically perfect in every way.
Mary Poppins Returns on December 19
The more I see images and scenes from this film, the more I am being convinced it’ll get double-figure Oscar nominations. Gosh, even Cinematography is looking to be a possible contender. And it doesn’t matter if it gets the same critical acclaim as Saving Mr. Banks, a film it’s very closely associated in recent years, because by the looks of it, this is going to be more technically-polished, just like the other Rob Marshall films.
But what really intrigues me is the Meryl Streep character. How essential or prominent will it be in the story? Because given that she’s Streep and she nails the performance yet again, I don’t think screen time will matter and she could very well get a Supporting Actress nod.
Meryl has one scene and NAILS IT playing Mary’s cousin. Could very well get nominated. Dion Beebe will definitely get nominated. It’s gorgeous. And it’s a shame they’re limiting songs to only two max, because there are at least 5 that could all snag a nom.
I thought Streep will also be singing. So the scene where we see her in the trailer and in this featurette is all it? I really do hope it’s a one scene with the impact of Viola Davis’ in Doubt.
Also looking forward to Dion Beebe’s work here. I love his works with Marshall. Production and Costume Design nods look shoe-in with a win depending on critical acclaim of the over-all film.
She DOES sing. Yep, just one scene. It’s sort of a thematic answer to the Ed Wynn scene in the original.
None of you need worry. I’ve seen MPR twice now and it’s superb. Every Shaiman/Wittman song is a winner. Will they stand the test of time that the Sherman songs do? Hard to say, come back in 54 years and let me know. Blunt will definitely get a BA nomination. An absolute sheer joy, however, if you prefer the upbeat vibe of A Star Is Born or Hereditary, this film is not for you.
Not sure what exactly to expect, but I’m rooting for it. I’m a huge lifelong fan of the original, and like Marshall who gave us the dazzling Chicago. I’m having good vibes.
I hope the best for this film, really… but I fear the worst. This is an Oscar-worthy or Razzie-frontrunner bet. There’s enormously talented people involved, but still, the ghost of how magnificent and iconic, the original film was… maybe too much.
I highly doubt it will be Razzie-worthy. What I currently think is that it will get good reviews (something similar to a Cinderella or Beauty & the Beast) and do incredible box office. It will not be near the echelon of the original Mary Poppins; which is an iconic family movie for the ages.
So Bird Box being a very late entry and from Netflix no less, really needed unanimous raves and while it is very early still to call it, it doesn’t look like it is getting them, leaving the two Marys the last two question marks of the season.
Early (unofficial) word is excellent for Mary Poppins Returns but we’ve been burned by that before (remember when the similarly Mary Poppins-themed Oscar contender from Disney, “Saving Mr. Banks” was supposed to be a serious BP contender ?) so let’s just wait and see what critics say or if the embargo lifts late, then even precursors. Clearly it will get a bunch of nominations from the Golden Globe, that won’t really tell us much, but if for example it got something from SAG (Blunt, ensemble ?), now THAT would indicate strong af industry support.
As for Mary, Queen of Scots, well, we will know what’s up this week (AFI World Premiere on Thursday). It would have to seriously tank for Ronan/Robbie to be taken out of the conversation and AFI closing gala films never “seriously tank”, at worst they get lukewarm response and even if this film can’t pull off anything more than that, that will be still enough for the two actresses to get serious award consideration this season. Flat out raves would be an unexpected but pleasant surprise here.