5 things you need to know about The BFG

US director Steven Spielberg, US actress Ruby Barnhill and British actor Mark Rylance cheer in Cannes. Photo: AFP

Thirty four years after landing in the South of France with E.T., Steven Spielberg returns to the Cannes Film Festival with The BFG, based on the Roald Dahl book published in 1982. (Coincidentally, that's the same year E.T. came out.)

However, the Disney blockbuster about a big friendly giant (Mark Rylance via a motion capture performance) who befriends a young girl – newcomer Ruby Barnhill – was met with tepid applause at the recent Cannes press screening, with some complaining that it didn't have enough crossover appeal for adults. The BFG opens in the US on July 20.