BJ Novak will help Disney tell its own story.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, B.J. Novak has joined the cast of “Saving Mr. Banks,” Disney’s movie about, well, Disney.
Or, to be more precise, about Walt Disney’s long fight to win the rights to the Mary Poppins books from Australian author P.L. Travers, who fiercely guarded the stories due to their basis in her relationship with her father. Tom Hanks is playing Disney and Emma Thompson is playing Travers. Novak would play Robert Sherman, one half of the Sherman brothers who wrote the score for the 1964 musical. Jason Schwartzman will playRichard Sherman, the other brother. So yeah, they’ll be responsible for “Supercalifragilistic” and songs like that. “Chim-chim-cher-ee,” etc.
Other than “Inglourious Basterds,” Novak has done little outside “The Office.” So congratulations to him, I guess.
Other cast members include Colin Farrell, Bradley Whitford, Paul Giamatti, and Ruth Wilson. Filming is expected to begin in the fall.
