In an era of franchise sequels and blockbusters based on Hasbro games, news of the Walt Disney Company closing on a deal to make SAVING MR. BANKS generated a lot of excitement from serious film buffs.
Deadline reported today that Saving Mr. Banks, Kelly Marcel’s script about Walt Disney’s struggle to persuade author P.L. Travers to sell him the rights to her beloved children’s stories Mary Poppins and how she battled Disney throughout the making of the movie, looked to become a feature film at Disney.
Deadline also hinted that Tom Hanks looked likely to play Disney in the movie with Meryl Streep playing Travers. Producer Alison Owen of Ruby Films joined the project but no word yet on a director.
Marcel recently wrote 13 episodes of the Fox sci-fi series Terra Nova as well as the heist film Valerio, to be directed by James Marsh.
Mary Poppins fans, are you excited about a drama based on Disney’s battle to make 1964 classic starring Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke and David Tomlinson as the stuffy father Mr. Banks? What do you think about Tom Hanks playing Disney?