ITV

Tag: Roald Dahl

  • Zee Studio & HD to premiere ‘The BFG’ on ‘R-Day’

    Zee Studio & HD to premiere ‘The BFG’ on ‘R-Day’

    MUMBAI: This Republic Day, get ready to experience the magic, as Zee Studio invites you to the Platinum Premiere. Just six months of its theatrical release across globe, the channel will air ‘The BFG’ for the first time on Indian Television on 26 January at 1pm and 9pm.

    Directed by the Academy Award winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg, The BFG stars Mark Rylance, Ruby Barnhill, Penelope Wilton, Jemaine Clement, Rebecca Hall, Rafe Spall and Bill Hader. The fantasy adventure is based on the 1982 novel name by Roald Dahl. In the movie, a 10-year-old orphan girl Sophie befriends a benevolent giant, named 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.

    To grab maximum eyeballs for the premiere, the channel is to introduce a Watch & Win contest on 26 January for its fans. The viewers will have to answer few simple questions asked during the premiere at 1pm & 9pm by sending a tweet to @Zee Studio using #BFGonZStudio. Lucky ones will stand a chance to win Crossword vouchers and Zee Studio merchandise.

  • Zee Studio & HD to premiere ‘The BFG’ on ‘R-Day’

    Zee Studio & HD to premiere ‘The BFG’ on ‘R-Day’

    MUMBAI: This Republic Day, get ready to experience the magic, as Zee Studio invites you to the Platinum Premiere. Just six months of its theatrical release across globe, the channel will air ‘The BFG’ for the first time on Indian Television on 26 January at 1pm and 9pm.

    Directed by the Academy Award winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg, The BFG stars Mark Rylance, Ruby Barnhill, Penelope Wilton, Jemaine Clement, Rebecca Hall, Rafe Spall and Bill Hader. The fantasy adventure is based on the 1982 novel name by Roald Dahl. In the movie, a 10-year-old orphan girl Sophie befriends a benevolent giant, named 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.

    To grab maximum eyeballs for the premiere, the channel is to introduce a Watch & Win contest on 26 January for its fans. The viewers will have to answer few simple questions asked during the premiere at 1pm & 9pm by sending a tweet to @Zee Studio using #BFGonZStudio. Lucky ones will stand a chance to win Crossword vouchers and Zee Studio merchandise.

  • Steven Spielberg to direct first film for Disney

    Steven Spielberg to direct first film for Disney

    MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Studios has joined the production of Steven Spielberg’s film adaptation of Roald Dahl‘s The BFG (Big Friendly Giant). 

     

    While the filmmaker has produced movies for the studio in the past, this will mark the first time that Spielberg will direct a Disney-branded movie.

     

    “In more than 40 years of making movies, I have been on the producing end of a number of films for The Walt Disney Company, but never as a director. It is a special joy to be in the director’s chair as we start The BFG, alongside my long-time friends and film collaborators Kathy Kennedy, who introduced me to this project, Frank Marshall and Melissa Mathison. Together with them and Disney, there are many reasons why I am so excited about this joint venture,” said Spielberg.

     

    Previously announced cast of the movie include three-time Tony Award winner Mark Rylance, who will play the titular “Big Friendly Giant” and newcomer Ruby Barnhill as Sophie. They are now joined by Bill Hader, Jemaine Clement, Michael David Adamthwaite, Daniel Bacon, Chris Gibbs, Adam Godley, Jonathan Holmes, Paul Moniz de Sa and Olafur Olaffson, all cast as giants. Buckingham Palace has also found its residents with Penelope Wilton being cast as The Queen and Rebecca Hall as Mary, the Queen’s maid.

     

    Production for The BFG is currently underway in Vancouver. 

     

    “With Steven Spielberg at the helm, The BFG will undoubtedly capture the minds of children and adults alike – as Roald Dahl’s original stories and many of Steven’s own films have done for decades. The team at Disney has tremendous respect for the filmmakers, and we’re thrilled to join with them to make what will be a spectacular picture,” said The Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn.

     

    “This partnership speaks to the spirit of storytelling and the kinds of movies that we make here. Over the years, we have enjoyed a fruitful collaboration, and we couldn’t be more excited to be working with Disney in this expanded capacity on The BFG,” added DreamWorks Studios CEO Michael Wright. 

     

    The BFG is the exciting tale of a young London girl and the mysterious Giant who introduces her to the wonders and perils of Giant Country. Based on the novel by Dahl, The BFG was published in 1982 and has been enchanting readers of all ages ever since. Dahl’s books, which also include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,James and the Giant Peach, Matilda and Fantastic Mr. Fox, are currently available in 58 languages and have sold over 200 million copies worldwide.

     

    Spielberg will direct the film adaptation based on a script by Melissa Mathison, who last teamed with Spielberg on E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.

     

    Spielberg, Frank Marshall and Sam Mercer will produce while Kathleen Kennedy, John Madden, Michael Siegel and Kristie Macosko Krieger are on board as executive producers. Adam Somner is a co-producer.

     

    The Disney/Amblin/Reliance production in association with Walden Media will open in US theaters on 1 July, 2016, the year that coincides with the 100th anniversary of Dahl’s birth.

     

    The Walt Disney Studios will distribute the film in the US and several international territories while Mister Smith Entertainment will oversee distribution in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Reliance will distribute the film in India.

  • Spielberg to bring Dahl’s ‘Big Fat Giant’ on screen

    Spielberg to bring Dahl’s ‘Big Fat Giant’ on screen

    MUMBAI: According to The Hollywood Reporter (THR), Steven Spielberg will helm the live-action film adaptation which will be based on the fantastical tale of a Big Friendly Giant (BGF) who befriends a young orphan girl.

     

    The BFG is no ordinary bone-crunching giant. He is far too nice and jumbly. Had she been carried off in the middle of the night by the Bloodbottler, the Fleshlumpeater, the Bonecruncher, or any of the other giants-rather than the BFG-she would have soon become breakfast. 

    When Sophie hears that they are flush-bunking off in England to swollomp a few nice little chiddlers, she decides she must stop them once and for all. And the BFG is going to help her!

     

    DreamWorks acquired the book in 2011 with Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall to produce. Melissa Mathison, who penned the script for E.T., wrote the screenplay. Marshall will produce with Michael Siegel on board as executive producer along with Madden.

     

    There has been one other adaptation of the popular children’s book: for a 1989 animated made-for-TV television movie in the U.K. Spielberg, has not directed a movie since 2012’s Lincoln, but Spielberg is officially committing himself to BFG and is planning a 2015 start date with a release in 2016.

  • BBC One film to star Dame Judi Dench, Dustin Hoffman

    BBC One film to star Dame Judi Dench, Dustin Hoffman

    MUMBAI: Dame Judi Dench and Dustin Hoffman have been lined up to lead the cast of Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot, a 90-minute movie for Endor Productions and BBC One that is slated to begin filming next year in London.

    Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot revolves around Mr Hoppy, a retired bachelor who has a crush on his neighbor, Mrs Silver. The production, based on a children’s book, is being adapted by Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer. It will be distributed by Red Arrow International.

    BBC One controller Charlotte Moore remarked: “It’s an honor to have Dame Judi Dench and Dustin Hoffman starring in this wonderful new adaptation. It’s absolutely stellar casting for one of the nation’s favorite children’s classics.”

    BBC controller for drama commissioning Ben Stephenson said: “An amazing cast and production team have come together to dramatise Roald Dahl’s wonderful, evergreen story. This film is a class act with a roll call of talent that only the BBC could assemble.”

    Producer Hilary Bevan Jones added: “To bring together two of the world’s favorite actors in Dame Judi and Dustin is a dream come true. Richard and Paul have captured the magic of Roald Dahl’s wonderful tale and I am thrilled that Dearbhla [Walsh] is to direct it.”