This Week in Page to Screen: Giants, Julie Andrews, and Dragons on Set

I suppose the Powers That Be decided we were all too distracted by Steven Spielberg’s announcement that he’ll be directing the film adaptation of Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One (a novel about reality versus virtual reality), because they’ve casually reminded us that he’s already in the process of another page to screen project—Roald Dahl’s The BFG, in case you’ve forgotten. This week, former SNL star Bill Hader announced he’ll be starring as one of the giants, joining Mark Rylance and Ruby Barnhill (and maaaybe Martin Freeman). And since Spielberg intends to finish BFG before moving on to Ready Player One, it looks like we’ll all be hotly anticipating 2016.

Speaking of giants, Treehouse Pictures announced their forthcoming adaptation of graphic novel I Kill Giants, by Joe Kelly, to be produced by Chris Columbus and directed by Anders Walters. The award-winning graphic novel follows the life of Barbara Thorson, a girl who learns to defeat real-life monsters by destroying fantasy monsters first. Kelly (who’s already worked on projects like Disney’s Big Hero 6) will be writing his own screenplay.

And while we’re on the topic of authors writing their own screenplays, beloved grump George R.R. Martin announced on Friday that he WON’T be writing any episodes for season six of Game of Thrones, as it would take too much time away from his work on Winds of Winter. (This comes after a previous announcement that he won’t be making several scheduled appearances this year, for the same reason). Am I sad to see ol’ Georgie go? Of course. But I’m also a bit relieved to hear he’s buckling down on delivering that sixth book to us.

While Game of Thrones is on your mind, take a minute to remember Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) is taking some time out of her busy pillaging schedule to film the adaptation of Jojo Moyes’ Me Before You, a romance between a quadriplegic and his young caretaker. Clarke will be starring opposite resident hottie Sam Claflin (aka Finnick Odair), who mentioned in a recent interview that he’s concerned Clarke will be so busy filming GoT she’ll have to bring her dragons on set.

Meanwhile, an adaptation of J.K. Rowling‘s The Casual Vacancy is coming to HBO on April 29. The miniseries, which premiered earlier this year in the UK, has taken the liberty of changing the end of Rowling’s novel, a change Rowling said she’s happy with. HBO just released the trailer, which you can watch here.

And finally, classy Dame and all-around good gal Julie Andrews (who’s currently in the process of writing another memoir) will be getting her own children’s TV show. The Very Fairy Princess series, which she cowrites with her daughter, is being adapted into a cartoon for preschoolers, starring a little girl who’s nearly convinced she’s a fairy princess. (Aren’t we all?) I mean, if we’re going to trust anyone with the minds of our children, Julie Andrews seems like a safe bet.
What page to screen adaptations are you most looking forward to?