Despite suffering a box office dud with Steven Spielberg’s The BFG, it looks like Disney is keen on taking another crack at a live-action Roald Dahl adaptation, with Deadline reporting that Sam Mendes (Spectre) is in talks to develop and direct a James and the Giant Peach movie.
Dahl’s 1961 children’s book centres on a young orphan boy who befriends human-like bugs living inside a giant magical peach, and together they embark on an adventure to escape his cruel aunts. The script for the new film is being penned by Nick Hornby (Wild, Brooklyn).
Having secured the rights in 1992 following Dahl’s passing (with the author having rejected a number of offers during his lifetime), Disney previously brought the book to the big screen back in 1996, with Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas) directing a live-action/stop-motion animated hybrid version, which was produced by Tim Burton.