After more than 50 years, Mary Poppins is returning to the big screen. Back in 1964, Julie Andrews won our hearts as the whimsical, magical nanny who delighted the Banks children and audiences across the globe. The acclaimed musical gave us the word “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and set things right in the Banks household just as it begins to crumble. The film received 13 Oscar nominations at the 1965 Academy Awards, and won for five of the nominated categories, including Best Actress for Andrews. Now, in 2018, actress Emily Blunt is about to take over the role that set Andrews’ career ablaze during Hollywood’s golden era.

In Mary Poppins Returns, Blunt takes hold of Mary’s umbrella and returns to the Banks’ lives and home. Set 20 years after the original movie, in the sequel, Michael Banks learns that his home will be repossessed unless he can find the money to repay a loan. Of course, Mary floats in to save the day. While the new Disney feature looks plush and colorful, Mary Poppins Returns is going to need to make a  massive amount of money at the box office to compete with the original film’s success.

How much did it cost to make Mary Poppins and what did it make at the box office?

The original Mary Poppins was directed by Robert Stevenson and cost Disney $4 million -$6 million to make in the early 1960s. This means it cost about $32 million to $48 million by today’s standards. When the film hit the box office, it earned universal acclaim from critics and audiences alike, and as a result, Disney racked in the dough for their adaptation of  P. L. Travers’s book series.

The film was extremely profitable making $28.5 million in 1965 alone which today is a total of over $225 million — over eight times what it cost to make. Mary Poppins made a lifetime gross of $102.3 million which is almost $820 million in 2018.

How much did it cost to make Mary Poppins Returns?

Already, Mary Poppins Returns has its work cut out for it. Disney spent $130 million making the film which is almost $100 million more then what was spent making the original film. For this new movie to even compete with the 1964 version, it would need to gross over $1 billion at the box office.

Luckily, by today’s standards, Hollywood considers a film successful if it can make back three times its budget. Therefore, Mary Poppins Returns needs only to bring in $390 million for it to be considered profitable.

What do the early Mary Poppins Returns reviews say?

So far, the reviews for Mary Poppins Returns are mixed. It’s certainly going to be difficult for anyone who is obsessed with the original to separate their feelings when accessing the 21st-century version. While the BBC’s Nicholas Barber feels the movie is cleverly done, he also thinks that Returns lacks originality. Meanwhile, his colleague Owen Gleiberman over at Variety disagrees. In his review of the film, Gleiberman stated that the film has, “a tone of whimsical sincerity that even the most innocent children’s films of today are a tad too slick and jaded to try for.”

In contrast, more in align with BBC’s views, Vulture’s David Edelstein felt that the film, “lacked magic.” He stated that while he adores Emily Blunt as an actress, “for someone with her extraordinary range, the part is like a straitjacket.” Yikes.

We guess you’re going to have to see Mary Poppins Returns for yourself when it premieres in theaters on December 19, 2018.

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