As previously reported, Meryl Streep will be a guest at this year’s Rome International Film Fetival. On October 20, Streep will be attending a question-and-answer session for fans as part of the promotional tour for British director Stephen Frears’ “Florence Foster Jenkins”. Tickets will go on sale October 06. For a full programme of films and conversation panels, visit the festival’s programme. Many thanks to Glenn and Simona for the heads-up.

Some news on the aforementioned sequel, courtesy VineReport and CinemaBlend. Over 50 years after its initial release, Mary Poppins still remains one of Disney’s classic hits, blending live action and animation to create a heartwarming (if not completely faithful) adaptation of P.L. Travers’ original work. While most never imagined the House of Mouse would make a Mary Poppins 2, this has finally come to pass decades later, as Mary Poppins Returns will arrive in the next few years. One of the actors participating in this follow-up is Hamilton superstar Lin-Manuel Miranda, and he recently provided a few tidbits about what moviegoers can expect from the sequel. Speaking with Variety, Miranda slightly elaborated on Mary Mary Poppins Returns’ plot, including how his character, a lamplighter named Jack, specifically connects to Dick Van Dyke’s lovable Bert from the original movie. “Michael and Jane Banks have grown up, and they find themselves in their own spot, and Mary Poppins comes back to take care of Michael’s kids,” said Miranda. “I play a lamplighter named Jack who sort of grew up apprenticing to Bert. So I know if Mary Poppins shows up, it’s gonna get awesome. I perform that function in the movie, of saying: ‘Y’all don’t know about Mary Poppins. When Mary’s around, cool sh– happens.'” Miranda stated that he would be in London during the first half of next year to film the sequel. During the interview, he also said that he would love to meet Van Dyke. Well, he might get his wish soon because it is rumored that Van Dyke and original Mary Poppins, Julie Andrews, might appear in the sequel. The two actors have yet to confirm or deny this as of the moment, so readers are advised to take this rumor with a grain of salt. Meanwhile, Meryl Streep is going to play a character named Topsy Tartlet, and sources say Ben Whishaw may be portraying Michael. Directed by Rob Marshall, Mary Poppins Returns hits theaters on December 25, 2018.

It has been some time since I last added production stills, basically because I thought that I’ve found all available movie stills already :-) Fortunately I was wrong, as many additional stills from films, television and theater performances have been added, ranging from Kramer vs. Kramer to Florence Foster Jenkins. Among the rare finds is a promotional still of Meryl for 1980’s CBS special Omnibus and a rehearsal picture from 2005’s Theater of the New Ear, with many thanks to Alvaro for finding both. To launch all last added pictures, simply click one of the previews above.

CNN Films is producing a new film about girls overcoming incredible challenges to achieve their educations and change their own lives, with contributions from First Lady Michelle Obama, Meryl Streep, Freida Pinto, and CNN journalist Isha Sesay. Singer Andra Day’s motivational anthem, ‘Rise Up’ will serve as the theme for the film. “We Will Rise: Michelle Obama’s Mission to Educate Girls Around the World” featuring Meryl Streep, Freida Pinto, and Isha Sesay will premiere on CNN International on the International Day of the Girl during primetime in Asia, Europe, and Africa on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 6:00am, 12:00pm, and 3:00pm. All times Eastern. Around the world, more than 62 million girls are not in school, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). As girls grow into adolescence, cultural and familial pressures often make it harder for them to stay in school, though educating women correlates to lower rates of infant mortality, increased GDP, and greater economic security for families. “We are honored to have the contributions of the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, Meryl Streep, Freida Pinto, Andra Day, and our own Isha Sesay, for this inspirational film,” said Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent and content development for CNN Worldwide. The complete press release can be read here.

It’s really not a good year for Meryl’s past movie directors, as the passing of wonderful filmmaker Curtis Hanson was revealed today. Hanson was probably best known for 1997’s “L.A. Confidential”, which was nominated for nine Oscars, including for best picture and best director and won for Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay (Mr. Hanson and his co-writer, Brian Helgeland). As Sasha Stone at AwardsDaily wrote earlier today, he was also a director of great women. Hanson had an ability to bring out fierce performances in his actresses – from Kim Basinger, who won an Oscar in LA Confidential, to the absolutely fantastic Rebecca De Mornay in the Hand that Rocks the Cradle. She should have gotten an Oscar nomination for that movie. And what can you say about The River Wild except that it’s a much better movie than it’s been given credit for, thank in large part to Meryl Streep – but also Hanson was a good director of thrillers, usually those that revolved around female characters, but he also directed 8 Mile with Eminem which came close to getting a Best Picture nomination.

Welcome to the latest version of Simply Streep. With this new look, the site has been fully converted to being responsive, which means you can browse it easily on your mobile device. The photo gallery has received a matching layout. Many thanks to Carol for helping me out with coding and to Claudia for being such a constant support. Thanks to both of you. With Florence Foster Jenkins being released and The Nix being the only official announcement as a future project, let’s use the spare time for some cool new features and additions to Simply Streep. P.S. As many of you have written me in the past weeks, many videos in the video archive have stopped playing on a variety of mobile devices, which has something to do with the script used for the video archive. I’m sorry it’s not working properly, but I’ll be working on a solution. In the meantime, enjoy the new layout, look around and enjoy your stay.

According to Deadline, Warner Bros Television is closing a deal for the fall literary sensation novel The Nix, and the elements are dazzling. Meryl Streep is going to star and produce with JJ Abrams and his Bad Robot. Abrams will likely direct at least some of the episodes. The first novel by Nathan Hill is a sprawling generational tale that focuses on a hippie-era mother who gets national press exposure for throwing rocks at a conservative governor on the presidential campaign trail. Before you know it, her estranged son — a professor, aspiring novelist and general underachiever — seizes an opportunity to get himself out of debt by writing a scathing profile of his estranged mother. CAA handled the auction for the book, which was just published by Knopf.

While “Florence Foster Jenkins” is still being shown throughout the United States, the film has been released on DVD, Blu-Ray and on demand in the United Kingdom, where it was theatrically released in May. Be sure to grab your copy if you haven’t seen it yet / if you’re able to play European region DVDs. Having received my copy just in time, over 1.600 Blu-Ray screencaptures have been added to the photo gallery. Enjoy!

A fantastic batch of magazine scans from the United States, the United Kingdom and Poland have been added to the photo gallery, all promoting the theatrical releases of “Florence Foster Jenkins”. The Polish scans have been kindly donated by Barbara, with many thanks! Also thanks to Alvaro for submitting a new scan from Time Out London, dishing on Meryl’s possible appearance in the Mary Poppins sequel. To view all latest scans, have a look at the list below. Enjoy reading.

“Florence Foster Jenkins” was not able to dethrone “Suicide Squad” from the US box office’s number one, but according to Entertainment Weekly, it sits just well in comparison to Meryl’s previous Summer releases: Hitting the adult demographic in typical fashion, Meryl Streep’s Florence Foster Jenkins lands at No. 8, earning an estimated $6.6 million from 1,528 locations. The film’s $4,306 per-screen average and solid critical reviews line up with Streep’s last August outing, 2015’s Ricki and the Flash, which grossed $6.6 million on 1,603 screens. Though the numbers are small in comparison to the film’s wide release brethren, Streep’s consistency with the mature crowd (97 percent of Florence’s opening weekend audience was over 25) can’t be denied, and her latest outing should perform well in the coming weeks, finishing somewhere in the $28-$35 million range with strong critical reviews (86 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) and a decent A- grade from audiences on CinemaScore.