''The BFG'' (titled onscreen as ''Roald Dahl's The BFG'') is a 2016

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

adventure film directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg, written by

Melissa Mathison Melissa Marie Mathison (June 3, 1950 – November 4, 2015) was an American film and television screenwriter and an activist for the Tibetan independence movement. She was best known for writing the screenplays for the films ''The Black Stallion'' ...

(her final film before her 2015 death) and based on Roald Dahl's 1982 novel of the same name. The film stars

Mark Rylance Sir David Mark Rylance Waters (born 18 January 1960) is a British actor, playwright and theatre director. He is known for his roles on stage and screen having received numerous awards including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Laurence ...

Ruby Barnhill Ruby Ann Barnhill (born 16 July 2004) is a British actress. She played the lead role of Sophie in Steven Spielberg's Disney live-action film of 2016, ''The BFG (2016 film), The BFG''.Penelope Wilton Dame Penelope Alice Wilton (born 3 June 1946), styled Penelope, Lady Holm between 1998 and 2001, is an English actress. She is known for starring opposite Richard Briers in the BBC sitcom ''Ever Decreasing Circles'' (1984–1989); playing H ...

Jemaine Clement Jemaine Atea Mahana Clement (born 10 January 1974) is a New Zealand actor, comedian, musician and filmmaker. He has released several albums with Bret McKenzie as the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, and created a comedy series of th ...

Rebecca Hall Rebecca Maria Hall (born 3 May 1982) is an English actress and filmmaker. She made her first onscreen appearance at age 10 in the 1992 television adaptation of '' The Camomile Lawn'', directed by her father, Sir Peter Hall. Her professional s ...

, Rafe Spall and

Bill Hader William Thomas Hader Jr.''Finding Your Roots'', January 26, 2016, PBS. (born June 7, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the creator, producer, writer, director, and star of the HBO dark comedy series ''Barry'' (201 ...

. In the film, a 10-year-old orphaned girl named Sophie befriends a benevolent

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

dubbed the "Big Friendly Giant", who takes her to Giant Country, where they attempt to stop the man-eating giants that are invading the human world. Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall began development on a live-action

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

of ''The BFG'' back in the 1990s, and various screenwriters were hired to work on the screenplay in the subsequent years.

DreamWorks DreamWorks may refer to: * DreamWorks Pictures, an American film production company of Amblin ** DreamWorks Television, an American television production company and division of the film studio ** DreamWorks Records, an American record label and f ...

acquired the screen rights to Dahl's book in September 2011, and Marshall and

Sam Mercer Sam Mercer is a producer of many films directed by M. Night Shyamalan such as ''The Sixth Sense'', '' Unbreakable'', and '' Signs'', as well as other films like '' Van Helsing'' and '' Things We Lost in the Fire''. His career started during the ...

joined as producers, Mathison as screenwriter and Kennedy as executive producer. Spielberg was announced as director in April 2014, alongside his production company

Amblin Entertainment Amblin Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions and Steven Spielberg Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marsha ...

as co-producer.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

commenced in March 2015, marking Spielberg's first directorial film for

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit ...

, which co-financed the film. ''The BFG'' premiered at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

on May 14, 2016, and held its North American debut at the

El Capitan Theater El Capitan Theatre is a fully restored movie palace at 6838 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood. The theater and adjacent Hollywood Masonic Temple (now known as the El Capitan Entertainment Centre) is owned by The Walt Disney Company and serves as the ...

on June 21, 2016. The film was released in the United States in

Disney Digital 3D Disney Digital 3-D is a brand name used by The Walt Disney Company to describe three-dimensional films made and released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures mostly under the Walt Disney Pictures label and shown exclusively using digital pr ...

, RealD 3D, IMAX 3D, and conventional theatrical formats on July 1, 2016, the same year of Dahl's

centennial {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at ...

. Despite receiving generally positive reviews from critics, the film was a

box office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

, grossing $195 million against its $140 million budget.

Plot

Sophie, a 10-year-old girl living in a

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

orphanage, is often awake at the "

witching hour In folklore, the witching hour or devil's hour is a time of night that is associated with supernatural events, whereby witches, demons and ghosts are thought to appear and be at their most powerful. Definitions vary, and include the hour imm ...

". One night, she sees an elderly

Giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

Man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

outside her window, who captures her and takes her to his home in Giant Country. He explains that he cannot allow Sophie to return to her world and reveal the existence of giants. If she ventures out alone, she may be eaten by the nine much larger giants. In his workshop of dreams, the giant fashions a nightmare to convince the sleeping Sophie to stay with him in safety. The Fleshlumpeater, the infantile leader of the man-eating giants, intrudes and demands for a " boo-boo" on his finger to be fixed. He smells Sophie, but the elderly giant convinces him to leave. Sophie persuades the friendly giant to take her to visit Dream Country. They accidentally awaken the other giants, and after the Bloodbottler suggests they "frolic", they bully the friendly giant. A thunderstorm drives the man-eating giants into their cave, but the Fleshlumpeater finds Sophie's dropped blanket. In Dream Country, Sophie and the friendly giant catch good and bad dreams. The giant reveals that his only name – besides "Runt", the other giants' nickname for him – is "the Big Friendly Giant", which leads Sophie to call him "BFG". She accompanies him to London for his nightly work: using his dream-trumpet to spread good dreams to sleeping children. They return to Giant Country just as the other giants have finished eating children around the world. The BFG realizes that Sophie has lost her blanket, exposing her presence to the other giants, and leaves her outside her orphanage. Explaining that his last human companion was discovered and eaten by the giants, he is unwilling to endanger Sophie and departs. Unafraid, Sophie jumps off her balcony in the hope he will appear again to catch her, and he does. They return to the BFG's workshop and the other giants barge in, hunting for Sophie. They destroy much of the BFG's work, but Sophie evades detection and the BFG drives them off with a hot iron. Sophie finds the home of the last human to live with the BFG, with a portrait of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

among his belongings. This inspires her to devise a plan: to forge a nightmare for

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

, the

Queen of the United Kingdom The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiw ...

, about giants eating the children of England, the British Army fighting the giants, and Sophie appearing to her. Sophie and the BFG go to

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

and deliver the nightmare to the sleeping Queen. Upon waking, the Queen and members of her staff Mary and Mr. Tibbs find Sophie on the windowsill. She introduces them to the BFG, explaining that the child-eating giants are real and must be stopped. At a large breakfast, the BFG shares his favorite drink, flatulence-inducing "frobscottle", and he and Sophie lead the Queen's soldiers to Giant Country. The BFG plans to ambush the man-eating giants with a nightmare, but has forgotten his dream-trumpet. Sophie carries the nightmare herself into the midst of the giants, and is confronted by the Fleshlumpeater. She releases the nightmare which consumes the giants with guilt, except the unregretful Fleshlumpeater (who intercepts and destroys his), and they are ensnared by military helicopters. Carried away to an isolated island, the giants are left with only "snozzcumbers", a disgusting vegetable, to plant and eat, much to their despair. Sophie gets adopted by Mary and comes to live in the Queen's palace, and awakens from a dream of the BFG, who returns to his life at Giant Country and writes the story of their adventure. She speaks to him whenever she feels lonely; at his home, the BFG hears her words and smiles.

Cast

as the Big Friendly Giant (BFG), an elderly, benevolent 24-foot

. He is called "Runt" by the other giants. *

Penelope Wilton Dame Penelope Alice Wilton (born 3 June 1946), styled Penelope, Lady Holm between 1998 and 2001, is an English actress. She is known for starring opposite Richard Briers in the BBC sitcom ''Ever Decreasing Circles'' (1984–1989); playing H ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

, the

. *

as The Fleshlumpeater, an aquaphobic 54-foot giant who is the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' leader of the man-eating giants. *

as Mary, Queen Elizabeth's maid and Sophie's mother. * Rafe Spall as Mr. Tibbs, Queen Elizabeth's butler. *

as the Bloodbottler, a disheveled 43-foot man-eating giant with cowlick hair who is Fleshlumpeater's advisor and the most intelligent of the group. *

Michael Adamthwaite Michael David Adamthwaite (born September 1, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He is credited with providing the voice for many characters in various anime series. He is also known for portraying the Jaffa Herak in the science fiction television series ...

as the Butcher Boy, an overweight, immature man-eating giant who is the youngest of the group. He collects cars and wears clothes made of circus tents. * Daniel Bacon as the Bonecruncher, a dark-skinned, bald-headed man-eating giant. * Chris Gibbs as the Gizzardgulper, a burly, bearded 39-foot man-eating giant who wears a helmet and is the shortest of the group. *

Adam Godley Adam Godley (born 22 July 1964) is a British-American actor. He has been nominated for two Tony Awards and four Laurence Olivier Awards for his performances on the New York and London stages which include, ''Private Lives'' in 2001, ''The Pillo ...

as the Manhugger, a very tall and slim man-eating giant who wears a vest and shorts. * Paul Moniz de Sa as the Meatdripper, a well-groomed man-eating giant with Mohawk hair. * Jonathan Holmes as the Childchewer, a balding man-eating giant who is Meatdripper's best friend. *

Ólafur Darri Ólafsson Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (born 13 March 1973) is an Icelandic-American actor, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for ''Children'', '' Trapped'', '' The Deep'', '' Lady Dynamite'', and ''The Secret Life of Walter Mitty''. Early life Ólafu ...

as the Maidmasher, a small-headed man-eating giant. *

Marilyn Norry Marilyn Norry is a Canadian actress performing on stage across Canada and in films and television around the world. Her credits include ''The L Word'', '' Flight 93'', and ''Stargate SG-1 ''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or a ...

as Mrs. Clonkers, the head of the orphanage where Sophie was living. * Chris Shields,

Matt Frewer Matthew George Frewer (born January 4, 1958) is an American-Canadian actor, singer and comedian. He portrayed the 1980s icon Max Headroom in the 1985 TV movie and 1987 television series of the same names. He became prominent when playing role ...

, and Geoffrey Wade as The Queen's Generals Adamthwaite, Bacon, Gibbs, Godley, Holmes, Moniz de Sa, and Ólafsson also make cameos as minor London characters. William Samples and Ruby Barnhill's father, Paul Barnhill, make cameos as the palace staff members.

Production

Development

Producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy began development on a live-action adaptation of ''The BFG'' in 1991, and set the project up at Paramount Pictures. Husband and wife screenwriters

Robin Swicord Robin Stender Swicord (born October 23, 1952) is an American screenwriter, film director, and playwright, best known for literary adaptations. Her notable screenplays include '' Little Women'' (1994), '' Matilda'' (1996), ''Practical Magic'' (1 ...

and

Nicholas Kazan Nicholas Kazan (; born September 15, 1945) is an American screenwriter, film producer and director. Early life Kazan was born in New York, the son of Greek-American director Elia Kazan and his first wife, playwright Molly Kazan (née Mary Da ...

wrote a screenplay adaptation in 1998, with

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

in negotiations for the title role. Williams attended a

read-through The read-through, table-read, or table work is a stage of film, television, radio, and theatre production when an organized reading around a table of the screenplay or script by the actors with speaking parts is conducted. In addition to the ca ...

, which according to Michael Siegel was "surprisingly disappointing". Williams' trademark improvisational style clashed with the BFG's unique language. Siegel elaborates, "He was sort of improvising on the jumbled language. And it was clunky. It was strangely not working. It was harder than it looks even for Robin. It didn't quite deliver." By 2001, the script had been rewritten by Gwyn Lurie, and was greeted with positive feedback from the Dahl estate.

Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...

and

Ed Solomon Edward James Solomon (born September 15, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for writing the screenplays to ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'' (1989), ''Men in Black'' (1997), and '' Now You See Me'' (2013). Life and career Solo ...

also attempted screenplay drafts. While the screenplay lingered in development hell, Paramount subsequently lost the film rights and they reverted to the Dahl estate. In September 2011,

acquired the film rights to the book; Kennedy and Marshall were announced to produce, with screenwriter

adapting the story. Initially,

John Madden John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, who he led to eight pl ...

was hired to direct; however, in April 2014, Steven Spielberg was announced as the director, with Madden now listed as executive producer with producer Michael Siegel. Kennedy had initially thought of Spielberg as director, but hesitated asking him until a more concrete screenplay was presentable. Spielberg stated, "''The BFG'' has enchanted families and their children for more than three decades. We are honoured that the Roald Dahl estate has entrusted us with this classic story."

Walden Media Walden Media, LLC or Walden Media is an American film investor, distributor, and publishing company. Its films are based on children's literature, biographies or historical events, as well as documentaries and some original screenplays. The corpo ...

agreed to co-produce and co-finance the film with DreamWorks and

in March 2015. A month later, Walt Disney Studios—which was under prior agreement to distribute the film through its Touchstone Pictures banner—also joined the production as a co-producer and co-financier, and shifted the film from a Touchstone release to a

production instead. Consequently, ''The BFG'' is the first Disney-branded film directed by Spielberg, though he has previously produced several films for the studio. Similarly, as a result of Amblin Partners' restructuring, DreamWorks did not receive a marquee credit—placement of the studio's

production logo A production logo, vanity card, vanity plate, or vanity logo is a logo used by movie studios and television production companies to brand what they produce and to determine the production company and the distributor of a television show or film ...

on marketing materials and opening titles—and instead, DreamWorks' marquee credit shifted to Amblin. The film is the second adaptation of the novel following the 1989 direct-to-television animated film. It is also Disney's first feature-length adaptation of a Roald Dahl work since 1996, Henry Selick's ''

James and the Giant Peach ''James and the Giant Peach'' is a popular children's novel written in 1961 by British author Roald Dahl. The first edition, published by Alfred Knopf, featured illustrations by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. There have been re-illustrated versions of ...

''.

Casting

was cast as the BFG in October 2014. Spielberg had approached Rylance with the role during the filming of '' Bridge of Spies''. Spielberg was quoted as saying that "Mark Rylance is a transformational actor. I am excited and thrilled that Mark will be making this journey with us to Giant Country. Everything about his career so far is about making the courageous choice and I'm honoured he has chosen ''The BFG'' as his next big screen performance." Rylance performed the character through motion capture, a process which he referred to as "liberating". In mid-November 2014, it was revealed that a ten-year-old student of

Lower Peover Lower Peover is a village in the civil parish of Nether Peover. ( British national grid reference system) in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, approximately 6 miles east of Nor ...

School,

Ruby Barnhill Ruby Ann Barnhill (born 16 July 2004) is a British actress. She played the lead role of Sophie in Steven Spielberg's Disney live-action film of 2016, ''The BFG (2016 film), The BFG''. After a lengthy search, on December 16, Barnhill was cast in the role, about which she said, "I feel incredibly lucky and I'm so happy." Spielberg stated that they "have discovered a wonderful Sophie in Ruby Barnhill."

was set to star in the film in an unspecified role on March 27, 2015. On April 13, 2015, the rest of the cast was announced, which included

, Michael David Adamthwaite, Daniel Bacon, Chris Gibbs,

, Jonathan Holmes, Paul Moniz de Sa, and Ólafur Ólafsson.

Filming

on the film began on March 23, 2015, in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

and concluded on June 12, 2015. Weta Digital worked on the film's visual effects. It is Mathison's final film following her death on November 4, 2015.

Music

John Williams composed and conducted the film's musical score, marking the twenty-seventh collaboration between Spielberg and Williams. Williams was announced as the film's composer in March 2015. During the process of writing the score, Williams compared the film to "a child's ballet where there are dances involved," elaborating, "The BFG tries to capture dreams with his net and does something that almost looks like a Ray Bolger or

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

dance; it is an amazingly musical and choreographic sequence which required the orchestra to do things that are more associated with musical films." Williams found similarities with the scoring of ''

Home Alone ''Home Alone'' is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film directed by Chris Columbus and written and produced by John Hughes. The first film in the ''Home Alone'' franchise, the film stars Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Hea ...

'', admitting that writing music for ''The BFG'' "was really an opportunity to compose and orchestrate a little children's fantasy for orchestra." The soundtrack was released by

Walt Disney Records Walt Disney Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from The Walt Disney Company's motion picture studios, television series, theme parks, and traditional studio albums produced by its ...

on July 1, 2016.

Release

''The BFG'' premiered on May 14, 2016, at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, in an out of competition screening.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It ha ...

distributed the film worldwide, except for territories in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, where the film's distribution rights were sold by Amblin's international partner,

Mister Smith Entertainment Mister Smith Entertainment is a British film distribution company involved in the acquisition, financing, production, licensing and distribution sales of films for the global theatrical market. Co-founded by David Garrett and Constantin Film, Mi ...

, to independent distributors. Disney released a

teaser trailer A teaser (or more specifically teaser trailer) is a mini- trailer and a form of teaser campaign advertising that focuses on film and television programming. It is a videography pre-release move or television show advertisement. Short in length, te ...

on December 9, 2015. A second trailer was released on April 5, 2016. A third trailer was released on May 16, 2016. The film held its North American premiere at the

El Capitan Theatre El Capitan Theatre is a fully restored movie palace at 6838 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood. The theater and adjacent Hollywood Masonic Temple (now known as the El Capitan Entertainment Centre) is owned by The Walt Disney Company and serves as the ...

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

on June 21, 2016. It was released in the United States on July 1, 2016. Entertainment One distributed the film in the U.K. on July 22, 2016. DreamWorks' financial partner,

Reliance Entertainment Reliance Entertainment Pvt Ltd is an Indian media and entertainment company. It is a division of Reliance Group, handling its media and entertainment business, across content and distribution platforms. The company was founded on 15 February 20 ...

, released the film in India on July 29, 2016.

Huaxia Film Distribution Huaxia Film Distribution () is a Chinese film distribution company. In 2014, the company was the second-largest film distributor in China, gaining 22.89% of the market. Filmography *''Drug Wars (film)'' (2012) *''The Taking of Tiger Mountain'' ( ...

released the film in China.

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, is the home entertainment distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, an ...

released ''The BFG'' on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

, and digital download on November 29, 2016. The film debuted in third of the home media sales chart for the week ending on December 2, 2016. Entertainment One and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the UK edition on DVD in 2016.

Reception

Box office

''The BFG'' grossed $55.5 million in North America and $139.7 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $195.2 million, against a production budget of $140 million. In the United States and Canada, ''The BFG'' opened alongside '' The Legend of Tarzan'' and '' The Purge: Election Year'' at 3,357 theaters, and was projected to gross $22–32 million in its opening weekend. The film was notably vying for drawing family audiences with the studio's own ''

Finding Dory ''Finding Dory'' is a 2016 American computer-animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Andrew Stanton, produced by Lindsey Collins and written by Stanton and Vict ...

''. It made $775,000 from its Thursday previews; however, the low figure was not surprising, given how family films tend to attract fewer audiences during late-night showings. This was followed by a $7 million opening day (including previews) and a disappointing $18.6 million opening weekend, which ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...

'' called "an awful start for this film which is estimated to cost $140 million". ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' noted that Steven Spielberg's films tend to have long runs, irrespective of their opening numbers. However, it also pointed out that the July 4th weekend proves to be a non-leggy release schedule and most films released during this time end up making only twice their holiday total over the course of their domestic theatrical run. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called the opening figures "a colossal misfire". Due to the film's poor performance in North America, the film was considered a

box office disappointment A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

. As a result of its low opening numbers in North America, the film needed greater financial success in its international markets, as pointed out by David Hollis, Disney's distribution chief, saying, "we're going to be reliant in a lot of ways on international udiences. Internationally—during its opening weekend—where the 4th of July weekend is not a holiday, the film opened to $3.9 million in its opening weekend from two markets, Australia and Russia. In Australia, it opened to $2 million placing third while in Russia it debuted second with $1.9 million, which tops the entire runs of ''

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1964 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka. The story was originall ...

'' and ''

War Horse The first evidence of horses in warfare dates from Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC. A Sumerian illustration of warfare from 2500 BC depicts some type of equine pulling wagons. By 1600 BC, improved harness and chariot designs ...

''. In the United Kingdom, where the book is more well known, it opened to $6.9 million. In China, the release was handled by

. While it benefitted from a robust marketing effort including Spielberg's presence in the country itself, it suffered from a three month long delay after its North American release. It had an estimated $13.8 million opening, debuting at second place behind ''

Operation Mekong ''Operation Mekong'' () is a 2016 Chinese-Hong Kong crime action film directed by Dante Lam and starring Zhang Hanyu and Eddie Peng. The film is based on the 2011 Mekong River massacre. It was released in China on 30 September 2016 and became on ...

''. Many Chinese online reviews criticized Spielberg for making the film "too juvenile" for adults. ''The BFG'' is one of the lowest-grossing films of Spielberg's career, specifically in North America and, when accounting for inflation, one of the year's biggest flops, but ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' noted that Disney would be able to withstand the losses due to the success of '' Captain America: Civil War'' and ''

''. The site also highlighted that the financial losses for Disney could be $90–100 million based on theatrical returns alone.

Critical response

On the review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 74% based on 301 reviews and an average rating of 6.70/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''The BFG'' minimizes the darker elements of Roald Dahl's classic in favor of a resolutely good-natured, visually stunning, and largely successful family-friendly adventure." On another aggregator,

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a score of 66 out of 100 based on 47 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. Justin Chang of ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' called Rylance's performance a "brilliant amalgam of performance-capture technology and peerless screen presence." Scott Mendelson of ''

'' described the film as "a charming, intelligent, and witty little adventure movie with strong special effects work in the service of a most unassuming story." Mendelson also commended the film's smaller scope in story, as well as Rylance and Barnhill's interaction.

Robbie Collin Robbie Collin is a British film critic. Collin studied aesthetics and the philosophy of film at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. He edited the university's student newspaper, '' The Saint''. Collin has been the chief film critic at ''The D ...

of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' called the film "a significant technical accomplishment", adding that "the infinitesimally detailed motion-capture technology alone, which stretches Rylance’s human performance to gargantuan proportions, is river-straddling bounds beyond anything that’s come before it." Critic

Matt Zoller Seitz Matt Zoller Seitz (born December 26, 1968) is an American film and television critic, author and film-maker. Career Matt Zoller Seitz is editor-at-large at RogerEbert.com, and the television critic for '' New York'' magazine and Vulture.com, as ...

highly appreciated Spielberg's direction of the film, giving the film three and a half out of four stars. Seitz remarks, "I can imagine some adults finding the movie dull; 'Nothing happens', they'll say. 'And it's too nice.' But I can imagine other adults loving the film for helping them remember what it's like to be young enough to hide from a movie monster because he's big and weird-looking and then laugh because he's kind of silly..."

Todd McCarthy Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for '' Variety'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010. In October of that year, he joined ''The Hollywood Reporter'', where he subsequently served ...

of ''

'' compared the film objectively to Spielberg's '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'', as a "conspicuously less captivating, magical and transporting experience than its classic forebear." Peter Debruge of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', however, compared the film favorably to ''E.T.'', writing, "this splendid Steven Spielberg-directed adaptation makes it possible for audiences of all ages to wrap their heads around one of the unlikeliest friendships in cinema history, resulting in the sort of instant family classic “human beans” once relied upon Disney to deliver." A. O. Scott of ''

'' praised the film's digital effects and visual style as "exquisite", though he felt that the film lacked the excitement found in Spielberg's previous fantasy films.

Richard Brody Richard Brody (born 1958) is an American film critic who has written for ''The New Yorker'' since 1999. Education Brody grew up in Roslyn, New York, and attended Princeton University, receiving a B.A. in comparative literature in 1980. He firs ...

of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' stating that it "plays like a forced march of fun, a mandatory strain of magic and a prescribed dose of poetry, like a movie ready-made for screening in classrooms when a teacher is absent." Brody, however, observes that "Spielberg is the BFG who's menaced by bigger and more monstrous giants who aren't interested in edifying their audiences but merely in consuming them—consuming the consumer, so to speak."

Richard Roeper Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American columnist and film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times''. He co-hosted the television series '' At the Movies'' with Roger Ebert from 2000 to 2008, serving as the late Gene Siskel's success ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...

'' called the film "technically impressive but listless and tedious... painfully cutesy, silly and gross rather than whimsical and funny." He thought that the film moved far too slowly and was missing a "sense of wonder and adventure", saying that he'd "rather see every one of Spielberg's previous films before having to sit through ''The BFG'' again".

Accolades

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:BFG, The 2016 films 2016 3D films 2010s fantasy adventure films 2010s children's adventure films 2010s children's fantasy films 2010s monster movies American 3D films American children's adventure films American fantasy adventure films British 3D films British children's adventure films British fantasy adventure films Films based on British novels Films based on children's books Films based on fantasy novels Films based on works by Roald Dahl Films set in 1982 Films set in a fictional country Films set in London Films set in palaces Films shot in Vancouver Films about dreams Films about friendship Films about giants Films about orphans IMAX films Cultural depictions of Elizabeth II Films scored by John Williams Films directed by Steven Spielberg Films produced by Frank Marshall Films produced by Sam Mercer Films produced by Steven Spielberg High fantasy films Films with live action and animation Films using motion capture Films with screenplays by Melissa Mathison Amblin Entertainment films Entertainment One films Reliance Entertainment films The Kennedy/Marshall Company films Walden Media films Walt Disney Pictures films Constantin Film films Nordisk Film films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s British films

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Music

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Accolades

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References

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