First Official Photo Of Emily Blunt As Mary Poppins In “Mary Poppins Returns”

WDWNT on March 6, 2017

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Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) returns to the Banks home after many years and uses her magical skills to help the now grown up Michael and Jane rediscover the joy and wonder missing in their lives in MARY POPPINS RETURNS, directed by Rob Marshall.

Here is the first glimpse of Golden Globe® winner Emily Blunt (above) as Mary Poppins in “Mary Poppins Returns,” the all new sequel to Disney’s 1964 film “Mary Poppins.”

Directed and produced by Rob Marshall, “Mary Poppins Returns” also stars Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer and Julie Walters with Colin Firth and Meryl Streep. The film, which introduces three new Banks children, played by Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh and newcomer Joel Dawson, also features Dick Van Dyke and Angela Lansbury. The film is set in 1930s depression-era London (the time period of the original novels) and is drawn from the wealth of material in PL Travers’ additional seven books. In the story, Michael (Whishaw) and Jane (Mortimer) are now grown up, with Michael, his three children and their housekeeper, Ellen (Walters), living on Cherry Tree Lane. After Michael suffers a personal loss, the enigmatic nanny Mary Poppins (Blunt) re-enters the lives of the Banks family, and, along with the optimistic street lamplighter Jack (Miranda), uses her unique magical skills to help the family rediscover the joy and wonder missing in their lives. Mary Poppins also introduces the children to a new assortment of colorful and whimsical characters, including her eccentric cousin, Topsy (Streep). The film is produced by Marshall, John DeLuca and Marc Platt.  The screenplay is by David Magee based on The Mary Poppins Stories by PL Travers with Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman writing all new songs and Shaiman composing an original score.

BB-8 Meet And Greet Coming To Disney’s Hollywood Studios

WDWNT on February 23, 2017

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The Disney Parks Blog has just announced that BB-8 will be meeting with park guests at Disney’s Hollywood Studios this spring! The meet and greet will debut at Star Wars Galactic Nights.

From The Disney Parks Blog:

Guests at Disney’s Hollywood Studios will have more Star Wars fun to look forward to this spring when BB-8, the loyal droid from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, begins character greetings at the park’s Star Wars Launch Bay.

BB-8 will appear in addition to Kylo Ren and Chewbacca, two characters from the Star Wars galaxy who guests regularly encounter at Star Wars Launch Bay.

Source: The Disney Parks Blog

Angela Lansbury Joins The Cast Of “Mary Poppins Returns”; Lansbury To Play “The Balloon Lady”

WDWNT on February 23, 2017

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LEGENDARY PERFORMER ANGELA LANSBURY JOINS CAST OF

“MARY POPPINS RETURNS”  

The Sequel to the Studio’s 1964 Film

Stars Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda

And is Directed by Rob Marshall 

Angela Lansbury has joined the cast of “Mary Poppins Returns,” the all-new sequel to Disney’s 1964 film “Mary Poppins” currently filming at Shepperton Studios. She will feature as the Balloon Lady, a treasured character from PL Travers’ series of Mary Poppins children’s books. The film is scheduled for release December 25, 2018. 

A five-time Tony Award® winner and the recipient of an honorary Academy Award®, three Academy Award nominations and bestowed with numerous other accolades, Angela Lansbury’s career encompasses more than 70 years. She is a beloved member of the Disney family and starred in “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” and voiced Mrs. Potts in the animated classic “Beauty and the Beast.” Her roles in film, television and theater range from “Gaslight,” “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” “The Manchurian Candidate” and “Death on the Nile” to “Murder, She Wrote,” “Mame,” “Blithe Spirit,” “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” and “Gypsy.”  

Directed and produced by Rob Marshall (“Into the Woods,” “Chicago”), “Mary Poppins Returns” stars Emily Blunt (“The Girl on the Train,” “Into the Woods”), Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton,” “Moana”), Ben Whishaw (“Spectre”), Emily Mortimer (“Hugo”) and Julie Walters (“Harry Potter” films) with Colin Firth (“The King’s Speech”) and Meryl Streep (“Florence Foster Jenkins”). The film, which introduces three new Banks children, played by Pixie Davies (“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”), Nathanael Saleh (“Game of Thrones”) and newcomer Joel Dawson, also features Dick Van Dyke.  

The film is set in 1930s depression-era London (the time period of the original novels) and is drawn from the wealth of material in PL Travers’ additional seven books. In the story, Michael (Whishaw) and Jane (Mortimer) are now grown up, with Michael, his three children and their housekeeper, Ellen (Walters), living on Cherry Tree Lane. After Michael suffers a personal loss, the enigmatic nanny Mary Poppins (Blunt) re-enters the lives of the Banks family, and, along with the optimistic street lamplighter Jack (Miranda), uses her unique magical skills to help the family rediscover the joy and wonder missing in their lives. Mary Poppins also introduces the children to a new assortment of colorful and whimsical characters, including her eccentric cousin, Topsy (Streep). 

The film is produced by Marshall, John DeLuca (“Chicago”) and Marc Platt (“La La Land”). The screenplay is by David Magee (“Life of Pi”) based on The Mary Poppins Stories by PL Travers with Marc Shaiman (“Hairspray”) and Scott Wittman (“Hairspray”) writing all new songs and Shaiman composing an original score.

Donald Glover To Voice “Simba” And James Earl Jones Will Voice “Mufasa” In Jon Favreau’s “The Lion King”

WDWNT on February 23, 2017

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Acclaimed actors James Earl Jones and Donald Glover have joined the voice cast of Disney and director Jon Favreau’s live-action reimagining of The Lion King. Donald Glover will voice adult Simba, while James Earl Jones will reprise the role of Mufasa, which he made famous in the 1994 animated film.  

The Lion King follows in the footsteps of Disney’s contemporary re-envisioning of some of its most beloved classics with films like Maleficent, Cinderella, and the upcoming Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson and debuting in theaters on March 17. In addition, Disney recently collaborated with Favreau on the Oscar-nominated smash hit The Jungle Book. 

For The Lion King, Disney and Favreau will build on the groundbreaking technology used in The Jungle Book to bring the story of Simba to photorealistic life. The film’s release date has not been announced.

Jon Favreau was also very happy to announce the news on Twitter:

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Source: Jon Favreau

VIDEO: Emma Watson Talks Of How Belle Has Been Reinvented For “Beauty And The Beast”

WDWNT on February 23, 2017

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In this week’s Entertainment Weekly, Emma Watson reveals  how she had some influence and input with reinventing the character of Belle. Definitely a big change that will make some fans of the original “Beauty And The Beast” very happy…. and some, not so much.

From Entertainment Weekly:

“I was like, ‘I have to tell this story. Oh my god if I don’t do this, nothing else makes sense,’” she recalls. “[It] made me feel that I had something else to give and offer.”

That’s how her version of Belle approaches the world, too. It may be a fairy tale, but it’s still a place where girls have to fight against impossible resistance for their own happily ever afters.

For instance, amid the chorus of villagers and shopkeepers in that opening song, you see a line of boys being led to school, while a group of little girls are left to do the laundry. Learning is not women’s work, and Belle’s neighbors no longer regard her simply as a quirky bookworm.

Her ideas and independence are considered worse than unladylike – they’re dangerous. Subversive. Beastly, even.

“They see her as a threat,” says director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Gods and Monsters). “It’s that thing that remains under the surface. But when there’s a real threat that unifies everybody, they start to look for other people who make them uncomfortable. That’s a pretty common pattern.”

This new danger: progress. This Belle is a tinker who invents a washing machine that frees the little girls from their chores, allowing her time to teach them how to read. The townsfolk respond first by marveling at her device – then by smashing it.

“They don’t think women should read and it goes further than that,” Watson says. “They are deeply suspicious of intelligence. Breaking the washing machine is symbolic of not just them breaking something she spent hours working on, but them really trying to break her spirit and trying to push her and mold her into a more ‘acceptable’ version of herself.”

In that way, Belle has already clashed with plenty of close-minded, brusque, bullies by the time she ends up in the clutches of the cursed Beast, (Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens,) a prince who is living out anguished penance as a giant, hairy fiend in his castle full of living candelabras, clocks, and tea sets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW_sivlg5HY

 

Source: Entertainment Weekly

Jack Sparrow Is Front And Center In 3 New Posters For “Pirates Of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales”

WDWNT on February 23, 2017

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Trends International has released new wall posters of characters from “Pirates Of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’. Along with a Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), we get a better look at Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem), Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario) and Henry (Brenton Thwaites).

 

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“Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” opens May 26th.

Source: Trends International