Tom Hanks on set of Saving Mr. BanksWith a terrific cast led by Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks is one of the most promising high-profile films currently in production.

Due for release in the height of the awards season next year, Hanks stars as Walt Disney in the drama that tells the tale of how author P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) was pursued by Disney for the rights to her novel, Mary Poppins, and now the first look at the pair filming on the grounds of Disneyland have surfaced online.

“When Travers travels from London to Hollywood in 1961 to finally discuss Disney’s desire to bring her beloved character to the motion picture screen (a quest he began in the 1940s as a promise to his two daughters), Disney meets a prim, uncompromising sexagenarian not only suspect of the impresario’s concept for the film, but a woman struggling with her own past. During her stay in California, Travers’ reflects back on her childhood in 1906 Australia, a trying time for her family which not only molded her aspirations to write, but one that also inspired the characters in her 1934 book.

None more so than the one person whom she loved and admired more than any other—her caring father, Travers Goff, a tormented banker who, before his untimely death that same year, instills the youngster with both affection and enlightenment (and would be the muse for the story’s patriarch, Mr. Banks, the sole character that the famous nanny comes to aide). While reluctant to grant Disney the film rights, Travers comes to realize that the acclaimed Hollywood storyteller has his own motives for wanting to make the film—which, like the author, hints at the relationship he shared with his own father in the early 20th Century Midwest.”

Starring alongside Hanks and Thompson will be a fantastic supporting cast, headed up by Colin Farrell, Bradley Whitford, Jason Schwartzman, Paul Giamatti, Rachel Griffiths, Kathy Baker, and Ruth Wilson.

John Lee Hancock (The Blindside) is taking the helm, with a script penned by Sue Smith (Peaches) and Kelly Marcel (Terra Nova).

Saving Mr. Banks is set for release in the US on 20th December, 2013, which will prime it for an Oscar campaign about this time next year. No word yet on a UK release, but we’ll hopefully be seeing it around the same time. For now, here are the first set photos, giving us a look at the leading duo.

 

Source: via Inside the Magic.