Mary Poppins sequel dated for Christmas 2018

Mary Poppins Returns, the sequel to the 1964 classic Mary Poppins, is scheduled to hit theaters Dec. 25, 2018, Disney announced today.

Disney also announced that Mary Poppins Returns will feature Emily Blunt (Into the Woods, Sicario) as the titular British nanny and Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator and star of the hit Broadway musical Hamilton, as a new character named Jack. Miranda's character is a "street lamplighter" who is a friend to Poppins, according to a press release from Disney.

Mary Poppins Returns takes place in London during the 1930s, the original setting of the P.L. Travers novels upon which the 1964 film was based. The sequel, which is inspired by the latter seven books, focuses on Jane Banks and Michael Banks — the children in the original film — as adults. The grown-up Banks siblings have suffered a "personal loss," and Poppins and Jack help them "rediscover the joy and wonder missing in their lives," according to the synopsis.

Original songs for Mary Poppins Returns are being written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, who won a Tony Award for Hairspray; Shaiman is also composing the film's score. Mary Poppins Returns is being directed by Rob Marshall based on a screenplay by David Magee (Finding Neverland). The film features the same directing and producing team as Disney's Into the Woods, which grossed $213.1 million worldwide in 2014.

"I am truly humbled and honored to be asked by Disney to bring P.L. Travers' further adventures to the screen," said Marshall. "The iconic original film means so much to me personally, and I look forward to creating an original movie musical that can bring Mary Poppins, and her message that childlike wonder can be found in even the most challenging of times, to a whole new generation."