Julie Andrews Reacts to MARY POPPINS RETURNS Casting

Emily Blunt can officially add the approval of the original Mary Poppins herself to a growing list of accolades. According to Entertainment Weekly, when Rob Marshall, the director of the upcoming film, first told Julie Andrews the top-secret news that Emily Blunt would be playing the titular character in the highly-anticipated sequel, her reaction was, "Oh, wonderful!"

Although Blunt hasn't had a chance to talk with Andrews about the role personally, Marshall passed along the positive message, and Blunt is quoted as saying, "I felt like I wanted to cry. It was lovely to get her stamp of approval. That took The Edge off it, for sure."

Reuniting the director and producing team behind Disney's hit film musical "Into the Woods," the film will be directed by Oscar® nominee, Emmy® and DGA Award winner Rob Marshall and produced by Marshall, Emmy winner and Golden Globe® nominee John DeLuca and Oscar, Emmy and Tony Award® nominee and Golden Globe winner Marc Platt. The screenplay will be written by Oscar nominee David Magee based on The Mary Poppins Stories by P.L. Travers, with Oscar nominee and Tony Award winner Marc Shaiman composing an all-new score and Shaiman and Emmy nominee and Tony Award winner Scott Wittman writing original songs.

Blunt has been cast as Mary Poppins and Broadway-favorite Lin-Manuel Miranda will play a new character, a street lamplighter named Jack. Drawing from the wealth of material in P.L. Travers' seven additional novels, the story will take place in Depression-era London (when the books were originally written) and follows a now-grown Jane and Michael Banks, who, along with Michael's three children, are visited by the enigmatic Mary Poppins following a personal loss. Through her unique magical skills, and with the aid of her friend Jack, she helps THE FAMILY rediscover the joy and wonder missing in their lives.

P.L. Travers introduced the world to the no-nonsense nanny in her 1934 book "Mary Poppins," which Disney adapted for the screen and released in August, 1964. The film, which was directed by Robert Stevenson and starred Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, won five Academy Awards®, including Best Actress for Andrews. However, the subsequent adventures of Mary Poppins remained only on the pages of P.L. Travers' seven additional books, which she published between 1935 and 1988.

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