DreamWorks' 'BFG' lands its lead and a July 2016 Release
Tuesday, October 28, 2014 at 6:00PM Margaret here as your resident Roald Dahl enthusiast, reporting on the upcoming big-screen adaptation of The BFG from Steven Spielberg.
The fantastical 1982 novel follows a precocious little girl named Sophie and the titular BFG (Big Friendly Giant) who whisks her away into his world of catching and distributing dreams. The story's elements of darkness and absurdity (horrifying man-eating giants and a surprising amount of flatulence) are typical of Dahl, though perhaps less prominent than in some of his other well-known works.
DreamWorks has announced that revered British stage actor Mark Rylance will be taking the title role. The the winner of three Tonys, two Oliviers, and a BAFTA, Rylance is nonetheless relatively unknown in the film world. This left-field choice for the lead is heartening; to choose an actor whose bankability is so entirely off the map shows great confidence in his ability, and bodes well for an interest in serving the material.
Certainly Steven Spielberg, who will direct and produce, knows his way around a heartwarming family film. Yet for the work of an author as misanthropic and wicked as Dahl, my heart wants a filmmaker who's proven they can do fanciful children's stories with more of an edge-- someone more like Cuarón or del Toro than the man who brought us E.T. (Not incidentally, the team who brought us that Best Picture nominee are reuniting for The BFG: Melissa Mathison and Kathleen Kennedy are respectively set to write and exec-produce.)
Production will begin in a few months, and it will open in the United States on July 1, 2016. Let's hope that, as the BFG might say, they don't gobblefunk around with this children's classic.
Other Dahl fans among us: how does this look to you? Any theater-goers here willing to attest to Rylance's abilities? And the most important question of all: will the Queen make a giant-slaying cameo as herself?
Reader Comments (7)
Can't wait for this! One of my favorite books when I was a child!
*side-note, Rylance has actually won 3 Tony's! For Boeing Boeing, Jerusalem, and just this past year for Twelfth Night!
a) I've seen his film work - he's remarkable in Intimacy and Angels and Insects
b) If you asked 100 critics to name the top five theatre actors in English language theatre, he'd be a top pick. He's won three Tonys, not two (Boeing, Boeing; Jerusalem; Twelfth Night).
Oop! My reference was just a notch too old. Thanks, it's been updated!
I hope Spielberg gets around to making "Robopocolypse" soon (perhaps he'll be able to shoot it in either late 2015 or early 2016?). And, when that happens, I hope Hemsworth and Hathaway are still involved.
Rylance is such a physical performer (not to mention all of the fun stuff he'll do with the BFG's specific way of speaking) that I can't think of a better choice for the character. Also, he'll be in Spielberg's Cold War movie with Tom Hanks next year, so he might well be an Oscar nominee/winner by the time BFG comes out.
Loved him in both Intimacy & Angels & Insects. excited that he seems to be taking his recent stage triumphs/dominance to the big screen as this isn't his only big upcoming role. He hasn't ever really focused his career on cinema so I'm so curious as to where things might go from here. Such a great actor.
I've seen him twice on stage: Measure for Measure at the Globe in 2004, and his Tony-winning turn in Jerusalem in 2011. The latter remains the most powerful performance I've seen on stage. Excited that he gets more exposure, but I do advise jumping at any opportunity to watch him live.