Tom Hanks in talks to play Walt Disney in a film called Saving Mr. Banks

After much shuckin’ and jivin’ about the possibility of Ryan Gosling playing Walt Disney, it turns out he’ll actually be played by Tom Hanks!

The film, called SAVING MR. BANKS, however, is not a biopic on the iconic man, but rather one about the making-of MARY POPPINS and the 14 years spent courting Australian scribe P.L. Travers for the film rights to the character. Hanks (CLOUD ATLAS) is in negotiations to play Disney while Variety also reports that Emma Thompson (MEN IN BLACK III) is in talks to play Travers, “who was ultimately unhappy with the film, especially the animated sequences.”

John Lee Hancock (THE BLIND SIDE) will helm the pic, based on a script by Kelly Marcel (“Terra Nova”). The title SAVING MR. BANKS refers to the character played by actor David Tomlinson in MARY POPPINS.