Although Roald Dahl's most famous novel is probably Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (which saw several adaptations for film), the author also wrote many other children's books, including one about a friendly giant called The BFG.
That 1982 story followed a young orphan girl, Sophie, who meets a giant who calls himself Big Friendly Giant (BFG). He takes her to a place called Giant Country, where most other giants spend their time stealing food from humans and eating people. However, BFG is not like the others and only eats a vegetable called a snozzcumber.
However, Sophie's presence in Giant Country makes her a target of the other giants, who are already becoming more troublesome to humans. Sophie returns to the UK to warn Queen Victoria about the problem and to work with her to figure out how to get rid of the giants for good.
This new adaptation of the story comes courtesy of Disney and Steven Spielberg. Here's the first trailer for the film:
The BFG also features a star-studded cast including Mark Rylance, Bill Hader, Jemaine Clement, Penelope Wilton, Rafe Spall, Ruby Barnhill and Rebecca Hall.
This is the first live-action film adaptation of The BFG. However, there was a British animated made-for-TV film based on the novel done back in 1989 that aired on the UK's ITV.
The original children's book received many awards, including being named as one of the Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children by the National Education Association. Of course, Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory also made that list.
When Rylance, who portrays BFG, first spoke with Spielberg about the movie, he didn't realize that he would take on the lead role as the giant.
"I thought he just wanted my opinion of it," said Rylance to the BBC. "I didn't realize he was actually offering me the part of the BFG. I hadn't read the book, but the script was wonderful. I had to change my plans a little bit to make myself available."
Of course, Rylance's performance involved green screen and motion capture, perhaps providing him with his largest role to date.
"It was motion-capture so my performance lives only in a computer," he said. "I'll be 24 feet high and have big ears."
The BFG stomps into theaters on July 1, 2016.
