For fans of Roald Dahl and Steven Spielberg, it seems that the BFG has finally collected and distributed the ultimate good dream: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Spielberg will direct a live-action adaptation of Dahl’s 1982 book, The BFG, charmingly illustrated by Quentin Blake.
Roald Dahl’s books have been adapted into both live-action and animated films over the years, from Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (made in 1971 as Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory and in 2005 with the book’s original name), to Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Witches and James And The Giant Peach. The BFG has seen several theatrical adaptations and one animated TV movie in 1989.
The BFG tells the story of Sophie, who is snatched from her bed in the middle of the night by the 24-foot-tall BFG (“24 feet is puddlenuts in Giant Country”). Turns out that BFG is the only vegetarian giant among a bunch of giant kid-eating evils with typically Dahlian names like Childchewer, Bloodbottler, and Meatdripper, and the big bad of them all, Fleshlumpeater. Sophie and the BFG slyly enlist the help of the Queen to save the children of England.
Coming full circle from another Spielberg-helmed kid-friendly movie about a strange being, the BFG screenplay was written by Melissa Mathison, who also wrote E.T.’s script. Hopefully the marketing campaign for The BFG will include frobscottle, the bubbly drink in which the bubbles move downward, causing “whizpopping” instead of belching.