Universal Pictures and Working Title Films announced today that principal photography will begin early next month on Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang.

Oscar-winning actress and screenwriter Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility) returns to the role as the magical nanny who appears when she’s wanted the least and needed the most in this sequel to 2005’s Nanny McPhee, for which Thompson wrote the screenplay. Thompson also penned the screenplay for this next installment, based on characters created by Nurse Matilda author Christianna Brand, which sees Nanny McPhee placed with an all new family.

In this sequel, directed by Susanna White, Nanny McPhee jumps forward in time and appears at the door of a harried young mother who is trying to run the family farm while her husband is away at war. But once she’s arrived, Nanny McPhee discovers that Mrs. Green’s children are fighting a war of their own against two nasty, snobby cousins who have just moved in and refuse to leave. From flying motorcycles and statues that come to life to a tree-climbing piglet and a baby elephant that turns up in the oddest places, Nanny McPhee uses her magic to teach her mischievous charges five new lessons.

Joining Thompson in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang for the project are Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Dark Knight) as Mrs. Green, Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill) as Mrs. Green’s villainous brother-in-law, Phil; Asa Butterfield (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas) as Mrs. Green’s eldest son, Norman; and Dame Maggie Smith (Harry Potter series) as the somewhat befuddled Mrs. Docherty. Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter series) will have a cameo in the film.