Please Make ‘Maybe Happy Ending’ Into a Movie
by Chris Peterson
I’m not above begging. And honestly? This is me, on the floor, face down, crying softly. Because Maybe Happy Ending just won the Tony for Best Musical, and if this doesn’t lead to a full-length movie adaptation, then what are we even doing as a society?
If you’ve seen the show, you get it. If you haven’t, let me catch you up: it’s a soft, strange, utterly beautiful original musical about two outdated helperbots—Oliver and Claire—living in a futuristic Seoul apartment building. They’re a little rusty, a little lonely, and when they find each other, something clicks. Or malfunctions. Or blooms. It’s a love story. But it’s also about memory, obsolescence, the fleetingness of joy, and the bittersweet ache of knowing something beautiful probably won’t last. It's delicate. It’s devastating. It’s everything.
And yes, I know. Technically, there’s already a film out there. It’s called My Favorite Love Story, directed by Lee Won‑hoi, and premiered at the Jeonju International Music & Film Festival (JIMFF) in 2023. And from the trailer below, it’s stunning. Simple. Dreamy. Full of feeling. Which is exactly what makes me so desperate for more.
Maybe Happy Ending is practically begging to be made into a feature. Think Her meets Once with a soft sci-fi glaze. Picture the warm glow of neon through rain-soaked windows. Picture dusty turntables, hesitant first touches, long silences loaded with meaning. Imagine close-ups of Claire hearing a record for the first time. Imagine Oliver quietly realizing he’s not just functioning—he’s feeling. And the music? My god, the music. It deserves to live in a world where the camera lingers and swells and soars alongside every note.
The best musicals don’t need spectacle. They need sincerity. And this show bleeds sincerity. It’s not interested in razzle-dazzle. It just wants to break your heart a little and then ask you to put it back together again.
And let’s not ignore the bigger picture here. Audiences are craving original stories. Not just another remake. Not just another jukebox musical or reboot of something dusty and familiar. Something new. Something meaningful. Something that makes you feel more human by watching two robots try to figure out what love even is.
So to every film studio, streamer, indie production house, or benevolent theater-loving billionaire out there: this is your chance. Pick up the rights. Hire a director who knows how to sit in silence. Keep the score untouched. Cast actors(preferably the current cast) who understand that stillness can be just as powerful as belting a high note.
We don’t need another bombastic, CGI-heavy musical trying to justify its existence. We need Maybe Happy Ending. Quiet. Tender. Honest. A little weird. A little sad. Entirely unforgettable.
Please. I’m not asking for much. Just a little cinematic immortality for a musical that understands what it means to be alive, even when you’re not supposed to be. And if it doesn’t end happily? Fine. But let it end on screen.