Moonsong Biopic Adds Hartnett, Thompson, Hawkins to Cast

Rebecca Miller's biopic Moonsong: A Life In Seven Verses, starring Elle Fanning as the children's author Margaret Wise Brown, has added a string of well-known names to its cast. Deadline reported the news exclusively on 2 November 2026, as the film heads to buyers.

Brown wrote The Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon, two of the best-known picture books in the English language.

Josh Hartnett, Emma Thompson, Sally Hawkins, Danny Huston, Robert Aramayo and Chloe Pirrie have joined Fanning and Julianne Moore, according to Yahoo's report of the casting. The film, which has been described as a sprawling ensemble piece, also counts Martin Scorsese among its producers, World of Reel notes.

The Veterans will launch international sales at the American Film Market with a sizzle reel and the screenplay, while CAA Media Finance represents U.S. rights, as reported by Martin Cid.

Miller wrote the screenplay from Leonard S. Marcus's biography Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon, and the film is set in 1930s New York, according to Yahoo.

Biopics of children's authors are a small field, and the choice of Brown as a subject puts the spotlight on the writer behind some of the best-loved bedtime books rather than on the books alone. The sources reviewed do not give a release date or a distributor for the finished film.

The Runaway Bunny is a 1942 picture book written by Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd, and it was the first of the pair's "classic series", which also includes Goodnight Moon, according to Wikipedia. It has since been adapted as an animated special for HBO Max, released in March 2021.

We have not yet reviewed The Runaway Bunny at LuvemBooks, but it remains a short, much-loved picture book that rewards a re-read for anyone curious about the author at the centre of Moonsong.