Before Mary Poppins Returns arrives in movie theatres December 19, take a look at the below featurette, in which the stars and creative team discuss the joy behind bringing the magical nanny back to the screen. The original Disney film is nearing its 55th anniversary, and naturally, the prospect of returning to that world was daunting. But looking at the source material (P. L. Travers’ series), director Rob Marshall realized: “There was a real sense that there’s so much more story to be told.” Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman have penned a new score for the story—one that star Lin-Manuel Miranda asserts is filled with “incredible, enchanting original music.” “This is a film with great hope and spectacle,” adds Emily Blunt, who takes on the title role this time around, amid clips filled with laughter, dancing, and dayglow animation. “And it’s moving, so I think it’s a very important film to be making right now.” The all-star cast of the new movie also features Meryl Streep, Angela Lansbury, Colin Firth, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, and Dick Van Dyke. The featurette can be found in the video archive, while screencaptures have been added to the photo gallery.

Today, more than 98 million adolescent girls around the world are not in school. That’s a lot of empty desks—and a lot of dreams that are being cut short. When girls get the opportunities they deserve, amazing things start to happen; poverty goes down, economies grow, families get stronger, and babies are born healthier. And the world, by all accounts, gets better. Join the Global Girls Alliance to take action to help adolescent girls and the grassroots leaders working to educate them. As they write on their website, “It’s simple: when girls go to school, the world gets better. Hear from some of our friends—Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, John Legend, Natalie Portman, David Beckham, and more—about why they’re excited to be a part of the Obama Foundation’s Global Girls Alliance, a program that will engage people around the world to take action to help adolescent girls and the grassroots leaders working to educate them”. To learn more, visit globalgirlsalliance.org.

Big Little Lies may not be returning for Season 2 until 2019, but there is some consolation — the first official footage of Meryl Streep in Big Little Lies is here, and it’s already proving worth the wait. The iconic actor appeared for just a second or two in a new HBO promo video that was released Sunday, but even just that one glimpse is an embarrassment of riches. The promo was, unfortunately, not a Big Little Lies teaser, but rather one for all of HBO original shows, crowded with teasers from True Detective, Veep, and even Game of Thrones. But somehow Streep stood out anyway, holding her own even against the sneak peek of Daenery Targaryen and her dragons from the final season of Game of Thrones. It’s a hard field to stand out in, but it should be no surprise that Streep is managing it, even with only a brief blip of screen time. It was previously announced that the 69-year-old would be brought onto Big Little Lies Season 2 to playing Mary Louise Wright, mother to Alexander Skarsgård’s character Perry, and thus mother-in-law to Nicole Kidman’s character Celeste. And while exact plot details aren’t yet known, The Hollywood Reporter claimed that Mary Louise is in town to check in on her grandchildren and get some answers about what happened to her son. It’s a reasonable motivation that should make total sense to anyone who remembers the events of BLL’s Season 1 finale. More bits by Bustle with thanks to everybody for the heads-up!

Universal Pictures eyes its promotional finale for next week’s theatrical release of “Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again” and they have saved the best nuggets for last. The newly-released b-roll gives us more Meryl, both behind the scenes and on stage with the complete cast. There’s also an official interview that has been used for the promotional clips we have seen so far. Also, the video archive has been updated with all the latest featurettes on the film – wishing that any of these would run for longer than a minute ;-) Screencaptures of the new material have been added as well, so head over to the video archive and the photo gallery, in that or in reverse order. Enjoy!

“Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again” will be released around the world next week. In the past couple of days, lots of new clips, featurettes and interviews with the cast and crew have been published, unfortunately none of them features Meryl Streep. The “big question” still seems to be if Donna is dead or alive in the sequel/prequel to 2008’s mega hit. The more important question might be just how much of a part she is in the film – after all, her name is featured on the poster and she has participated in the promotional press junket as featured in the promotional clips. I guess we have to wait and find out ourselves next week. In the meantime, I’ve compiled a list of all promotional videos, which I’m sure you’re eager to see, with or without Meryl. “Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again” releases theaters on July 18 in Europe and July 20 in the United States.

Universal Pictures has a nice surprise for us today. While the promotion for “Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again” has already started with a bunch of (more or less dreadful) tunes by the younger cast, we now have the first official featurette with a focus on Cher’s character, and – surprise, Meryl Streep’s in it as well, talking about her former and current co-star. So, nevermind if Donna Sheridan is dead or alive, Meryl has participated in the official promotion and I’m sure there’s much more to come. The featurette can be watched below and in our video archive. Screencaptures have been added to the photo gallery.

The final trailer for “Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!”, the sequel to the Broadway musical turned blockbuster starring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan shot on the Croatian island of Vis, is now out. Mamma Mia 2 will hit cinemas on 20 July and on Tuesday the final trailer, which features some great shots of Vis, came out. The sequel was filmed in September and October last year on the island of Vis for 24 days, with more than 270 Croatian film professionals and extras engaged. Along with the original cast including Meryl Streep, Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Julie Walters, Christine Baranski, Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper, the sequel also features Lily James, Josh Dylan, Jeremy Irvine, Alexa Davies and Jessica Keenan Wynn. Universal Pictures released the first trailer in December last year, followed by another teaser earlier this year. Vis plays the part of a Greek island in the film. Check out the final trailer above and in the video archive.

During tonight’s Oscar broadcast (check the following update for more on the ceremony), Disney released a first teaser for “Mary Poppins Returns” during the commercial breaks. While it doesn’t feature Meryl and only gives a glimpse of Mary Poppins herself (I know, that’s why they call them teasers :-) the trailer gives a good idea of what to expect from Rob Marshall’s film, which is hitting theaters this Christmas. You can watch it below or in the video archive.

The great joy of maintaining an archive like Simply Streep is finding an old blast from the past you have been looking forever. Even better to find something you didn’t even know existed! The German-french culture channel has a movie programme called “Abgedreht” or “Personne Ne Bouge” and this week’s episode is all about Meryl Streep, featuring bits from a very rare appearance on Michael Parkinson’s talkshow in October 1981 to promote the theatrical release of “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”. You can watch the full programme, which runs 35 minutes, either in German or in French on the Arte website. The “Parkinson” bit can be found in the video archive as well as screencaptures in the photo gallery. Enjoy.

While there’s still material coming out of the promotion tours in the United Kingdom ad France, the “Post” team is already attending the Italian promotion for the film. That’s what I call a comprehensive press tour. Today, they were at a press conference and photocall in Milan, after attending the Italian talkshow “Che tempo che fa” on Sunday. The full 53 minute interview can be watched in the video archive. Also today, “Lorraine” aired an interview segment with Tom and Meryl. Everything has been added, either to the photo gallery or the video archive, so have a look at the latest additions below.