New trailer for Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of The BFG features giant problems

By Stephanie Topacio Long April 5, 2016

The latest trailer for Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic The BFG takes us into new territory: giant country. Disney released the new preview today, offering a look at the unlikely friendship of an orphaned girl and a dream-distributing giant.

In the trailer, a young girl named Sophie (played by Ruby Barnhill) is the only child awake in the orphanage where she resides. The night takes an unexpected turn for her when is plucked out of her bed by a giant hand (attached to the arm of an actual giant) and carried off without explanation. Understandably terrified, she wants answers. When they finally reach their destination, she is told that she is in giant country.

The situation isn’t ideal, of course. Although the trailer shows us beautiful sights and a budding friendship between Sophie and the BFG, aka Big Friendly Giant (Mark Rylance), there are massive threats to her safety, namely the other giants. As big as the BFG looks, he’s miniature in comparison to the others and decidedly weaker-looking. The trailer leaves off with the introduction of a mean group of giants.

Based on the preview, the Steven Spielberg-directed film appears to closely follow Dahl’s children’s novel of the same name, but we’ll have to wait till its release to know for sure. The book was published in 1982 and continues to capture the imaginations of young readers. The upcoming movie marks the first live-action film adaptation of the beloved story, but it was previously adapted into an animated TV movie in the late ’80s.

In addition to Rylance (fresh off his Oscar win for Bridge of Spies) and Barnhill, the cast includes actors Bill Hader, Jemaine Clement, and Rebecca Hall. The BFG hits theaters on July 1.

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Stephanie Topacio Long is a writer and editor whose writing interests range from business to books. She also contributes to…

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