David Magee has written the script, which draws on material from author P.L. Travers' other Poppins novels that followed the original. Set nearly 25 years after the 1964 film, the story this time finds the magical nanny returning to the Banks family in Depression-era London to find that her charges Jane (Mortimer) and Michael (Ben Whishaw) Banks have now grown up. Michael has three children of his own, and they all need a little help re-discovering the joy in life.
Poppins will need the help of street lamplighter Jack (to be played by Hamilton musical god Lin-Manuel Miranda) and cousin Topsy (Meryl Streep, about whom we've also heard good things).
With Rob Marshall making the magic happen in the director's chair and Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman on song/score duties, Mary Poppins Returns will kick off shooting next year and is eyeing a 25 December 2018 release across the pond. So that's a jolly holiday launch for the States, but no word whether it'll arrive over here at the same time.