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'Mary Poppins Returns': Emily Blunt is keen on a third film and has an idea for a title


Emily Blunt says she would happily play Mary Poppins again and she even has suggestions for what the follow up to Mary Poppins Returns could be called, if Disney decides to make a third film.

“Oh my god, yes!” the British star emphatically tells Yahoo Movies UK, when we asked whether she’d like to return as the super-nanny.

And the title of the threequel? “Mary Poppins Returns Again!” Blunt says in our video above.

She jokingly adds, “I’ve thought of another title, ‘Mary Poppins, please god, come back again’, now we really need her!”

The 35-year-old star plays the title role in Mary Poppins Returns which lands in U.K. cinemas on 21 December. It’s a direct sequel to the 1964 original film, starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, and it picks up the story of Jane and Michael Banks who, it transpires, still need a touch of Mary’s magic.

Emily Blunt, Ben Whishaw, and Emily Mortimer have some interesting suggestions for where the next Mary Poppins film could go, and what it should be called.
Emily Blunt, Ben Whishaw, and Emily Mortimer have some interesting suggestions for where the next Mary Poppins film could go, and what it should be called.

Emily Mortimer and Ben Whishaw play the Banks siblings in the sequel. It’s set 30 years after the events of the original film, and so looking ahead to a third film, the actors are assuming there’ll be another time jump forward, making Jane and Michael OAPs.

“The next one would have to be us, in an old retirement home,” says The Newsroom star Mortimer, “and Jane and Michael Banks are terrible, incontinent old people.”

Mary Poppins Changes Bedpans, perhaps?

“It’s a darker film,” jokes Paddington 2 star Whishaw.

“But we need [Mary] just as much as old age pensioners as we ever did as middle-aged people or young people,” adds Mortimer, “I mean, really, more than ever! When you’re about to die, you need a dose of Mary Poppins.”

This image released by Disney shows Emily Mortimer, Ben Whishaw and Emily Blunt in “Mary Poppins Returns.” (Disney via AP)
This image released by Disney shows Emily Mortimer, Ben Whishaw and Emily Blunt in “Mary Poppins Returns.” (Disney via AP)

A third Mary Poppins film is by no means a dead cert at this stage. Whether Disney decides to green light another adventure, based on the PL Travers novels, will depend on how Mary Poppins Returns performs at the box office when it arrives on 21 December.

It’s sure to be a big hit with families over the Christmas period, as it offers something for all the family, young and old, but it faces stiff competition from other big hitters such as Aquaman, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, and Holmes & Watson.

However, as The Greatest Showman proved last Christmas, its great soundtrack could propel families to make return visits to the cinema to hear the catchy tunes on the big screen.

Mary Poppins Returns, which we named one of the best movies of 2018, hits U.K. cinemas on 21 December. Watch a clip below.


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