Kristen Bell and Jonathan Groff to reunite in original musical 'Molly and the Moon'

ICYMI, the undisputed power couple of Hollywood musicals is about to reunite in epic fashion. Earlier today, Deadline reported that Kristen Bell and Jonathan Groff are set to star in a new, original musical, Molly and the Moon. And yeah, we’re pretty over the moon about it.Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, the minds that brought us the feel-good sitcom classic, How I Met Your Mother, will script and direct the film. Music will be composed by Nathan Larson, while Harvey Mason Jr. is slated as the executive music producer, and Stephanie Diaz-Matos assumes the role of music supervisor. Tory Metzger will serve as executive producer.Molly and the Moon tackles some serious, and rather personal subject matter for creator Craig Thomas. In an interview with Deadline, Thomas shared that the story was inspired by his own family’s experience while he and Bays were between season 2 and 3 of HIMYM. “My wife and I were having our first kid, a boy, Elliot,” Thomas explained. “I was heading into parenthood and I figured everything was going according to the life script I imagined for myself. I’m going to have this healthy, perfect kid and come back and keep running that show. Instead, life served up an enormous curveball to us.”Thomas went on to share that his son, Elliot, was born with Jacobsen Syndrome which, for those not familiar, is a rare genetic condition caused by a loss of genetic material from chromosome 11. In Elliot’s case, the condition lead to several heart defects and, just two weeks after he was born, open heart surgery. 

“And all of a sudden, we are living this completely different story line than we had imagined for ourselves, our son going through open heart surgery at 2 weeks old. He weighed only about three and a half pounds, which also was unforeseen,” shares Thomas. “So what ended up happening was, we were in the hospital for six weeks going through two different journeys. One was hoping that our son survived this heart surgery, which had a significant chance of mortality, and also trying to accept that if he lived through this heart surgery, we were going to have a kid who was different, who might have lifelong health and developmental issues.”

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Bays was, of course, privy to the plight of Thomas’ family and, through that emotional experience, the pair realized there was a story to tell about a child’s fight for survival. Because, as Thomas explained, Elliot was “this little tiny baby, was going through this epic life or death battle, lying in this plastic box, this small incubator.”As for the musical component of the project, Thomas revealed that his wife would often sing a lullaby to Elliot about his name. In the movie, a similar lullaby will be performed, while sharing the experience of terrified parents who, for so many weeks, were unable to touch or comfort their baby beyond singing lullabies. 

Chiming in, Bays shared that, “As a writer, you look for the happy endings in life. There was no happier ending that I can recall from anyone’s life or anyone I know than the day Elliot, Craig, and Rebecca came home from the hospital, and an incredible journey culminated in just putting your baby down in the crib. It was…monumental.”Taking inspiration from Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, and Alice in Wonderland, Molly and the Moon will feature Kate, a pregnant mother-to-be singing a lullaby to her belly and, as the camera centres on her pregnant belly, viewers are introduced to another world. Within that world exists a mysterious little girl in a rowboat in the middle of the ocean, looking up at the moon while hearing her mother’s lullaby. 

The live-action film will feature Bell as Kate and Groff as Brian, Molly’s dad. The pair already stole hearts (and awards) for their work on the Frozen franchise and, surely, are poised to make Molly and the Moon a heart-felt, emotional viewing experience.

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