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Steven Spielberg's The BFG Coming 2016

Steven Spielberg’s ‘The BFG’ has been given an official UK release date by Entertainment One.

The live action adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book is coming to cinemas on 22 July 2016, a year that will also mark the centenary of Dahl’s birth.

This release date sandwiches it between the proposed release dates for the ‘Angry Birds’ animated movie (15 July, 2016) and Pixar’s ‘Finding Dory’ (29 July, 2016).

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The director is teaming up with screenwriter Melissa Mathison for the first time since ‘E.T.’ for the film which will be produced by Frank Marshall.

“It is fitting that the UK is the first international country to announce the date of ‘The BFG’, a story that sprang from the imagination of this proud son from Wales,” said Steven Spielberg in the press release. “We at DreamWorks Studios hope our film will add to Roald Dahl’s prolific legacy of entertainment.”

'The BFG' tells the story of a Big Friendly Giant who teams up with the Queen of England to protect the world from a gang of evil child-eating giants.

The book has previously been adapted by the British Cosgrove Hall animation studio into a popular made-for-TV film, featuring David Jason as the voice of the BFG.

There’s no more information right now about casting for the film, but we’re guessing that Spielberg will employ performance capture for the giants, so stand by your phone Andy Serkis.