With so many giant franchises and big blockbusters planned every summer it’s getting to the point that simply being a big movie full of big names isn’t enough to get you noticed anymore. A decade ago, a movie produced by Disney, directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on a book by Roald Dahl would have been the most anticipated movie of the year, but today it has to fight for coverage with three different comic book movies. Let's change that by placing am emphasis on The BFG. So, what exactly is The BFG anyway?
In this case, BFG stands for Big Friendly Giant, not to be confused with a something out of the Doom video game, where BFG stands for something very different. This is the name of one of our two primary characters. We realize the name is somewhat redundant but it's a kid's book. Go with it. It’s based on a book by the same man who wrote Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, among many others. The title character of the story is a giant who befriends a young orphan named Sophie. Our Big Friendly Giant takes Sophie to Giant Country where she meets more creatures, many of whom are even bigger, but not necessarily as friendly as our protagonist. The one thing that we don’t really know yet is exactly what our BFG is going to look like. Disney has released the first official poster for the film, but due to problems of scale, we still don’t see very much. Nice shoes, though.
The movie will star Academy Award nominee Mark Rylance as the BFG and new child actress Ruby Barnhill as Sophie. The screenplay was written by Melissa Mathison and has been directed by Steven Spielberg, which brings the two back together to reprise their roles from the classic E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. If they have recaptured that original magic here then this movie could become a classic in its own right.
Currently set for a release date of July 1, The BFG is set to come out a week after Independence Day: Resurgence and directly against The Legend of Tarzan. With the release calendar getting so crowded, some movies are bound to get overlooked, but we really hope this isn’t going to be one of them, as so far it looks fantastic. Check out the first trailer below.
Where does The BFG fall on your summer movie list? Is it going to be "must see" or are there just too many other movies you’re looking forward to this year?
