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The BFG movie has found its Sophie

December 18th, 2014 by Marc Comments

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Well, we now have Sophie is first-timer Ruby Barnhill. She’ll be playing the little girl who befriends the BFG – Big Friendly Giant – in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Roahl Dahl’s classic tale.

DreamWorks Studios announced today that newcomer Ruby Barnhill has been cast as the young girl, Sophie, in Roald Dahl’s beloved classic story, “The BFG.”  Steven Spielberg will direct the film adaptation of the children’s novel.  Published in 1982, “The BFG” is the tale of a young London girl and the mysterious Giant who introduces her to the beauty and peril of Giant Country. Barnhill joins Mark Rylance who has been cast as the “Big Friendly Giant.”

“The BFG” will be 10-year-old Ruby Barnhill’s first feature film role.  She has been acting for two years and will appear in the upcoming BBC BAFTA award-winning children’s drama “Four O’Clock Club.”  Ruby lives in Cheshire with her parents, younger sister and Tom the cat and is a member of her local youth theatre.

“I feel incredibly lucky and I’m so happy,” said Ruby Barnhill.  “Sophie gets to go on this wonderful adventure and I’m so excited that I get to play her.”

“After a lengthy search, I feel Roald Dahl himself would have found Ruby every bit as marvellous as we do,” said Steven Spielberg.  “We have discovered a wonderful Sophie in Ruby Barnhill.”

Luke Kelly, Managing Director of the Roald Dahl Literary Estate and Roald Dahl’s grandson, said, “The character of Sophie is one of the most endearing young heroes in Roald Dahl’s stories. She is as brave as she is curious and has an innate sense of wonder. Many congratulations to Ruby on landing the role. We hope that making ‘The BFG’ proves an utterly magical adventure for her.”

DreamWorks acquired the rights to the book in 2010 after Kathleen Kennedy brought it to the company.  Melissa Mathison, who last teamed with Spielberg and Kennedy on “E.T.,” has written the screenplay.  Spielberg, Frank Marshall and Sam Mercer will produce while Kennedy, John Madden and Michael Siegel are on board as Executive Producers.  Kristie Macosko Krieger and Adam Somner are Co-Producers.

Spielberg will begin production on “The BFG” in early 2015 and it will be released in the UK on July 22nd 2016 by Entertainment One. The Walt Disney Company is distributing the film in the U.S. and select international territories while Mister Smith Entertainment is handling distribution in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.  DreamWorks’ partner, Reliance, will distribute the film in India.

Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….