Mary Poppins is going to take flight in January.
That's when Emily Blunt starts shooting the much-anticipated new Mary Poppins movie!
"I'm learning the songs," Blunt told me while promoting The Girl on the Train (in theaters tomorrow). "We did an incredible workshop of the script a few weeks back. It's so heart racing, so exciting. It's a complete different re-imagining of the whole thing. And I'm scared and thrilled to be in it and it's cool."
They start rehearsals next month.
"It is my dream," Blunt said of playing the legendary nanny. "I mean, she's such an iconic nostalgic figure for people. So it's a gift to give to my kids that I get to be this generation's Mary Poppins." Blunt has two daughters, Hazel, 2, and three-month-old Violet, with hubby John Krasinski.
Directed by Rob Marshall and set 25 years after the original movie, the cast of Mary Poppins Returns also includes Meryl Streep, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw and Emily Mortimer. Disney has scheduled the movie to be released on Dec. 25, 2018.
As E! News was the first to report, the original stars Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke will likely make some sort of appearance in the new film.
In other Disney musical news, Blunt's The Girl on the Train co-star Luke Evans talked about his work as Gaston in the upcoming live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.
Evans has seen the film (it's set for a March 2017 release) and gushed, "Disney's gone to town....There are moments in the film for real diehard fans. They won't be able to stay in their seats, they'll be so excited."
The soundtrack was recorded at London's legendary Abbey Road Studios.
Directed by Bill Condon, Beauty and the Beast's cast includes Emma Watson as Belle, Dan Stevens as Beast as well as Ewan McGregor, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, Josh Gad and Sir Ian McKellan.