Maggie Gyllenhaal has signed on to join the cast of Nanny McPhee And The Big Bang, the sequel to 2005's magical nanny film Nanny McPhee. She joins a cast that also includes Rhys Ifans, **The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas' **Asa Butterfield and Maggie Smith, as well as returning star / screenwriter Emma Thompson.
The first film, for those of you who don't have kids and therefore missed it, had the enormously ugly, quite terrifying but also magic-using McPhee turn up to teach a bunch of spoiled, badly-behaved children the error of their ways: think Mary Poppins meets Mama Fratelli. As the kids shaped up, so did their Nanny, going from hag to hubba as their behaviour improved.
This time, the setting has shifted from vaguely-Edwardian to definitely-World War II, and focuses on a group of kids evacuated from the city to a farm during the War. We're guessing that the same magical tone and bright colours will remain, however. There's no word on who's playing what yet, however, but we are told that Ralph Fiennes may also show up in an uncredited cameo (the fact that we know that means they may as well go ahead and credit him, however).
Thompson once again adapted the script from one of Christianna Brand's Nurse Matilda kids' books. British director Susanna White will make her feature directing debut on the film, after taking the reins on TV productions like Bleak House, Teacher and most recently Generation Kill.