DVDizzy Forum

Colin Farrell is in talks to join the cast of Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks, the John Lee Hancock directed and Kelly Marcel-scripted saga of how Walt Disney waged a 14-year courtship to persuade Australian author P.L. Travers to sell him rights to make a film out of Mary Poppins. Deadline has told you Tom Hanks will play Disney and Emma Thompson will play Travers. Farrell will play her father, the inspiration for the Mr. Banks character played by David Tomlinson in the 1964 classic film that starred Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke.

The heart of this script comes from how close Travers felt to her story of a nanny with magical powers. Mary Poppins was highly personal, and reflected hardships in her own life and her relationship with her father, who died when she was 7. Disney finally persuaded her to let him make the film, but she was prickly all the way to the end. While Mary Poppins was lauded immediately, she hated the animated sequences in the film so much that she refused to sell any of her other works to Disney.

Paul Giamatti, Jason Schwartzman and Ruth Wilson have joined the cast of the upcoming John Lee Hancock-directed Saving Mr. Banks. Variety reports that they'll star opposite the previously-attached Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson, Colin Farrell and Bradley Whitford.

The movie focuses on P.L. Travers (Thompson), the woman who wrote the "Mary Poppins" books beginning in 1934 and her fierce apprehension (and later regret) about bringing the character to the screen.

The script is said to shift back and forth between 1961 and 1907 and covers Travers' childhood in rural Queensland and her experience negotiating with Walt Disney (Hanks) and his team for the film. Farrell will play her father, the inspiration for the Mr. Banks character.

Giamatti will play Ralph, Travers' chauffer with Wilson playing Travers' mother in flashbacks and Schwartzman taking the role of Disney songwriter Richard Morton.

Disney is looking to start filming this fall in Los Angeles.

Victurtle wrote:Not a fan of Emma Thompson.

Such a shame they 'lost' Meryl. I think I'll pass on this movie.

milojthatch wrote:I actually think it would be more interesting to see a non-Disney studio make a film about or with Walt Disney.

milojthatch wrote:

Disney Duster wrote: Yea, I'm with ya there. The only thing is...who would know more about what exactly went on with the making of Mary Poppins than the Disney studio? And why would anyone other than Disney (and some hard, hardcore Mary Poppins fans who somehow turned into directors and thought they could make this without Disney) be the ones who even want to make this movie?

I'd have to say, very few at the Disney Studios today ever even met Walt Disney, let alone knew the man at all. I'd think they'd be more worried about protecting their corporate image then making a good, truthful movie about Walt.

Either way, if Walt's daughter isn't involved, who cares?

estefan wrote:As good as Meryl Streep is at her "accents of the week", I prefer Emma Thompson in the role, to be honest.

B.J. Novak, one of the stars of The Office, has joined the cast of Saving Mr. Banks, Disney’s movie about the making of Mary Poppins. Novak will play Robert Sherman, the Disney songwriter who along with his brother Richard wrote the movie’s memorable songs including the Oscar-winning "Chim Chim Cheer-ee." The film is due to begin shooting in September in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The tale of how the world's most beloved nanny, Mary Poppins, flew from the pages of a popular book onto the big screen is the subject of a new film starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson, Disney said on Wednesday.

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"Saving Mr. Banks" will be released sometime in 2013, Disney said.

The 1964 movie musical Mary Poppins may be practically perfect in every way, but the road to making it was anything but. It took Walt Disney 20 years to get the film rights to P.L. Travers’ popular novel, and the demanding author insisted on script and character control.

Some 50 years later, we’re ready to tell the story behind the story of that iconic film. Today, The Walt Disney Studios began principal photography on Saving Mr. Banks, which explores the partnership that developed between the filmmaker and the author during pre-production on Mary Poppins in 1961. Two-time Academy Award®-winner Tom Hanks stars as Walt Disney alongside fellow double Oscar®-winner Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers.

The film, directed by The Blind Side’s John Lee Hancock, will shoot in part right here on the Studio lot in Burbank where Mary Poppins was filmed, as well as at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim and several other Los Angeles locations.

In addition to Hanks and Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks boasts a stellar cast including Colin Farrell, Ruth Wilson, Rachel Griffiths, Bradley Whitford, Jason Schwartzman, B.J. Novak, Paul Giamatti, Kathy Baker, and newcomer Annie Buckley as the young Travers. Kelly Marcel (Terra Nova) wrote the screenplay, from a story by Sue Smith and Marcel.

I’m not alone in listing Mary Poppins among my all-time favorite films. As if it’s not exciting enough to work at the legendary studio responsible, I foresee a time when I’ll be adding Saving Mr. Banks to the list too, knowing they filmed it just steps from where I’m typing this now. There might only be one word for it. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

monorail91 wrote:Bleagh... hope Tom doesn't mess this up. He hasn't done quality acting in years.

ajmrowland wrote:hey, i havent even seen him in anything in the last few years besides toy story and the Da Vinci Code, except Angels and Demons.