Emma Thompson and Josh Hartnett have joined Elle Fanning in Moonsong: A Life in Seven Verses, Rebecca Miller’s film about Goodnight Moon author Margaret Wise Brown.
Sally Hawkins, Danny Huston, Robert Aramayo and Chloe Pirrie are also joining the cast, Deadline reports exclusively. Fanning plays Brown, with Julianne Moore previously announced as the poet Michael Strange.
Set in 1930s New York, the film follows Brown’s development as a children’s writer and her relationships with Strange and socialite “Big Bill” Gaston, played by Hartnett. Miller wrote the screenplay from Leonard S. Marcus’s biography Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon.
Brown’s books reached far beyond Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny. Marcus describes a career spanning more than 100 picture books, shaped by her interests in child psychology and modern art. She insisted that young readers deserved quality writing and art in their books.
The Veterans is taking Moonsong to the American Film Market with a screenplay and preview reel to sell international distribution rights; CAA Media Finance handles the US rights. Miller and Damon Cardasis are producing through Round Films, with Martin Scorsese executive producing.
