Acting as the final promotional hurrah before the film’s arrival on Friday, July 1, Disney has lifted the lid on two new clips and a wondrous featurette for The BFG, Steven Spielberg’s live-action treatment of the Roald Dahl classic.
Telling the age-old tale of Sophie’s (Ruby Barnhill) chance encounter with a towering – and, thankfully, amicable – giant, The BFG is at its heart a whimsical coming-of-age story, peppered with Snozzcumbers and clueless human beans.
Today’s media dump focuses on the latter, with Mark Rylance taking one huge step out of Giant County and into Buckingham Palace where he crosses paths with the Queen of England.
In bringing Dahl’s beloved tale to screen, Spielberg was conscious of creating Rylance’s behemoth in such a way that the audience would naturally empathise with his plight. Much of this revolved around cutting-edge CGI, and the director says his goal “was to be able to use technology to advance the heart and create a flawless transposition between the genius of Mark Rylance and the genius of WETA, as they were able to digitally translate Mark’s soul onto film and the character of The BFG.”
The BFG lumbers into theaters on Friday, July 1. Bill Hader, Jemaine Clement, Penelope Wilton and Rebecca Hall complete the cast.
How does Steven Spielberg’s movie stack up to Roald Dahl’s timeless classic? Find out in our review.
The BFG brings Sophie to Dream Country where he collects dreams and sends them to children, teaching her all about the magic and mystery of dreams. Having both been on their own in the world up until now, their affection for one another quickly grows, but Sophie’s presence in Giant Country has attracted the unwanted attention of the other giants, who have become increasingly more bothersome. Sophie and the BFG soon depart for London to see Queen Victoria (Penelope Wilton) and warn her of the precarious giant situation, but they must first convince the Queen and her maid, Mary (Rebecca Hall), that giants do indeed exist. Together, they come up with a plan to get rid of the giants once and for all.
