Steven Spielberg to direct The BFG movie

The US director will begin shooting Roald Dahl's children's classic in 2015

Director Steven Spielberg was third on Forbes' 2014 list of the Top 100 Most Powerful Celebrities

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Steven Spielberg has signed on to direct a live-action adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The BFG.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker will begin shooting in early 2015, according to The Hollywood Reporter, with time to squeeze in another movie first.

This new project will see the classic children’s tale of a Big Friendly Giant’s friendship with a little orphan girl brought to life for DreamWorks.

The film studio first acquired the rights in 2011 and, since then, John Madden and Chris Columbus have both been attached as possible directors.

Now, with Spielberg on board, Michael Siegel, Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall are set to produce. Melissa Mathison, known for E.T’s script, has penned the screenplay.

Roald Dahl's 1982 children's book

Dahl’s 1982 original, illustrated by Quentin Blake, has only been adapted for the screen once before for a 1989 animated TV movie.

Spielberg’s last film was 2012’s Lincoln but in recent months he has been reported as interested in several projects, from an untitled Cold War thriller with Tom Hanks to Fox’s sci-fi epic Robopocalypse and historical drama Montezuma.

The US director, 67, has also written the storyline for The Goonies 2.