The BFG is a 2016 American adventure fantasy film directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg , written by Melissa Mathison and based on the 1982 novel of the same name by Roald Dahl . This film stars Mark Rylance , Ruby Barnhill , Penelope Wilton , Jemaine Clement , Rebecca Hall , Rafe Spall , and Bill Hader . In this film, an orphaned human girl befriends akind giant , nicknamedBig Friendly Giant , who brings him to the Land of Giants, where they try to stop the man-eating giants from invading the human world.