Steven Spielberg To Direct Movie Adapation Of Roald Dahl's 'The BFG'

DreamWorks has attached Steven Spielberg to direct The BFG, a live-action adaptation of the Roald Dahl children’s book. While BFG could stand for any number of things, in this case it’s short for “big friendly giant.”  

Illustrated by Quentin Blake and first published in 1982 as an expansion of a story in Dahl’s other book, “Danny, the Champion of the World,” The BFG centers on a young girl named Sophie who befriends the world’s only benevolent giant.  Hit the jump for more.

[Update: The report has been updated to add that Spielberg has committed to starting production on The BFG in early 2015 in anticipation of a 2016 release, but he's considering fitting in a smaller-scale film before then if he can--most likely the Cold War thriller that has Tom Hanks attached to star.]

As THR reports, Spielberg is attached to direct The BFG for DreamWorks.  The studio acquired rights to the property back in 2011 with Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall attached as producers.  Marshall is still attached, and screenwriter Melissa Mathison is still expected to pen the script.  

Though other directors have been signed up for The BFG in recent years, this is only the most recent addition to Spielberg’s slate of potential upcoming films.  He’s also attached his name to a Cold War-era thriller with Tom Hanks, The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, Robopocalypse, a West Side Story remake, and Montezuma to name but a few.  Time will tell which one of these projects Spielberg commits to making his next feature.

As for The BFG, here’s the book’s synopsis (via Amazon):

Captured by a giant!

The BFG is no ordinary bone-crunching giant. He is far too nice and jumbly. It’s lucky for Sophie that he is. Had she been carried off in the middle of the night by the Bloodbottler, or any of the other giants—rather than the BFG—she would have soon become breakfast. When Sophie hears that the giants are flush-bunking off to England to swollomp a few nice little chiddlers, she decides she must stop them once and for all. And the BFG is going to help her!