Director John Lee Hancock Eyes Mary Poppins Film Saving Mr. Banks

Director John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) is in talks to helm Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks, according to Deadline.com. Written by Kelly Marcel, the forthcoming film is the story of how Walt Disney convinced Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers to make a movie version of her classic novel. As previously announced, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep are rumored to play Disney and Travers, respectively.

Saving Mr. Banks takes place over the 14-year time period it took Disney to convince Travers to adapt Mary Poppins into a film, and their rocky relationship during the movie's eventual production. The 1964 film starred Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, and won five Academy Awards. The stage adaptation of the hit movie continues to run at Broadway's New Amsterdam Theatre.

In addition to The Blind Side, Hancock also wrote and directed The Alamo and Hard Time Romance.

Disney hopes to produce Saving Mr. Banks in 2012.