Filmmaker Steven Spielberg is currently in production on his latest directorial feature, an untitled Cold War thriller starring Tom Hanks, but he’s concurrently prepping his next directorial effort, The BFG.  Spielberg committed to shooting the Cold War thriller and The BFG back-to-back, and he is scheduled to begin filming the Roald Dahl adaptation in early 2015.  As such, Spielberg is starting to put together his cast for the family adventure, and the first addition has been announced: Mark Rylance.  Variety reports that the Tony Award-winning English actor will be filling the titular role of the Big Friendly Giant, though it’s unclear if his portrayal will involve prosthetics, motion-capture, or a mixture of the two.  More on The BFG movie after the jump.

The story of The BFG follows the titular giant, the Queen of England, and a young girl who all set out on an adventure to capture the evil, man-eating giants who have been invading the human world.  This won’t be the first time Rylance has worked with Spielberg, as he also has a role in the untitled Cold War thriller.  This also isn’t the first time Spielberg has tackled back-to-back shoots, as he famously went right into shooting Schindler’s List after wrapping Jurassic Park.

Read the synopsis for Dahl’s book below.  Spielberg’s The BFG arrives in theaters on July 1, 2016.

Captured by a giant!

The BFG is no ordinary bone-crunching giant. He is far too nice and jumbly. It’s lucky for Sophie that he is. Had she been carried off in the middle of the night by the Bloodbottler, or any of the other giants—rather than the BFG—she would have soon become breakfast. When Sophie hears that the giants are flush-bunking off to 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!