EXCLUSIVE: Rebecca Miller’s biopic Moonsong: A Life In Seven Verses, starring Elle Fanning as ‘Goodnight Moon’ and ‘The Runaway Bunny’ children’s author Margaret Wise Brown, has added a roster of A-listers to its ensemble cast as The Veterans prepares to launch international sales at the AFM.
Josh Hartnett (Verity), Academy Award winner Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility), Academy Award nominee Sally Hawkins (The Shape Of Water), Golden Globe nominee Danny Huston (Diamond), Bafta Award winner Robert Aramayo (I Swear) and Chloe Pirrie (Emma) are set to join Academy Award nominee Fanning and her previously announced co-star Academy Award winner Julianne Moore.
The Veterans will launch sales at the AFM with a sizzle reel and screenplay, handling international sales outside the U.S., while CAA Media Finance will represent U.S. rights.
Set in 1930s New York, the film follows Wise Brown as she discovers her gift for writing children’s stories and pioneers a new, sensory approach to children’s literature alongside a community of brilliant artists and educators.
At once innocent and brazen, she leads a complex life marked by passionate love affairs with the socialite “Big Bill” Gaston and the poet Michael Strange, whose mesmerizing yet destructive influence shapes her journey towards forging her own artistic voice and the children’s masterpieces which since have sold more than 300 million copies in more than 25 languages.
Fanning, who has just hit the big screen in The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping and is soon to be seen in The Nightingale after a high-profile 2025-26 awards season with Oscar winner Sentimental Value, co-stars opposite Moore as Michael Strange and Hartnett as “Big Bill” Gaston.
DGA and Emmy Award winner Miller directs and wrote the screenplay based on Leonard S. Marcus’s biography Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon.
Moonsong: A Life In Seven Verses is Miller’s ninth film with her filmography including Angela (1995), Personal Velocity (2002); The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005), The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009), Maggie’s Plan (2015), Arthur Miller: Writer (2017), an Emmy-nominated HBO documentary; and She Came To Me (2023).
Most recently, she directed Mr. Scorsese (2025), a five-part documentary portrait about Martin Scorsese for Apple TV+, which won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series, the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Series / News, and two Critics Choice Documentary Awards for Best Biographical Documentary and Best Limited Documentary Series.
“Margaret Wise Brown is one of the most fascinating characters I have ever encountered. She never lost her child-like view of the world, yet also became a phenomenon within her business, publishing over a hundred books, including Goodnight Moon, Little Fur Family, The Runaway Bunny, books which have become a part of the fabric of our culture,” said Miller, who also wrote the screenplay.
“At once innocent and feral, often feeling out of place in the human world, yet an arch-communicator, sexually liberated yet prey to complex and painful love affairs, the sole guardian of her own creative flame—Margaret feels profoundly modern to me, and I believe, played by Elle Fanning, she will be a totem for young people who are looking for a way to live without compromising the multiplicity of their true selves.”
The creative team also includes Oscar-nominated cinematographer Jarin Blatchke (The Lighthouse, Nosferatu); Academy Award-winning veteran special effects artist Neal Scanlan (Project Hail Mary, Star Wars Sequel trilogy), who is renowned for his work in creature effects, animatronics and puppetry. Academy Award nominee Malgosia Turzanska (Hamnet) will serve as costume designer, while Kim Jennings will oversee production design.
The film will be produced by Round Films (Damon Cardasis and Rebecca Miller). The book was brought to Round Films by Amanda Goodwin, Keri Selig and Sasha Alexander. Martin Scorsese will serve as executive producer.
Miller is represented by CAA, Entertainment 360, 42 West and George Sheanshang. Fanning is repped by UTA, TFC Management, and Hansen Jacobsen. Moore is repped by WME, Entertainment 360, Apex PR.
Hartnett is repped by CAA, Entertainment 360, David Weber at Sloan, Offer, Weber & Dern, and Patricola Public Relations. Thompson is repped by CAA. Hawkins is repped by CAA. Houston is repped by Julian Belfrage Associates, UTA, Untitled and Narrative PR. Aramayo is repped by CAA, 42 in the UK, MJ Management, and Shelter PR. Pirrie is repped by Julian Belfrage Associates, Entertainment 360, Prosper PR.
The film will start shooting in May 2027.
