IT is a fantasy story about giants plucking children through the windows of a London orphanage for their late-night snack.
But as The BFG’s lead character Sophie is whisked off to Giant Country, Steven Spielberg’s latest film showcases a mystical landscape – filmed in some of the most scenic spots around Scotland.
Now the film, which has already won rave reviews after premiering at this weekend’s Cannes Film Festival, is expected to provide a significant boost to the economy of the Highlands and Islands.
Read more: Spielberg to direct movie version of The BFG
From The Quiraing on Skye to the Old Man of Hoy on Orkney and the Shiant Isles off Lewis, the acclaimed movie provides another welcome, visual marketing tool for the Scottish tourist industry.
It follows on from a series of major blockbusters which have led to an influx of tourists in recent years – from James Bond movie Skyfall in Glen Etive to Harry Potter films in Glenfinnan and Glencoe and Michael Fassbender’s adaptation of Macbeth in a very atmospheric, not to say wet, Skye.
Malcolm Roughead, chief executive of VisitScotland, said: “It’s wonderful to hear that the first screenings of The BFG have been a success in Cannes with Scotland playing a starring role once more on the big screen.
“Set-jetting, where people visit the shooting locations of their favourite movies, is big business.
“Research suggests around 40 per cent of visitors to the UK are inspired to visit a location after seeing it on film or on television, so hopefully many will be inspired to visit Skye, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides after seeing this truly magical film.”
Scott Ross, marketing and communications manager for Skye’s Michelin-star restaurant Three Chimneys, said many tourists were inspired by movies to visit the island.
Read more: Oscar winner Mark Rylance 'to play a pope' in new Steven Spielberg film
He cited the Quiraing and Glen Sligachan in the recent Macbeth, “which wasn’t just filmed in the wet, there was a downpour”.
Despite that, he said it definitely had a “location factor” which subsequently attracted visitors.
He also cited Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, filmed at Trotternish on the Quiraing. “People definitely go and look to see if they can find the cave,” he said.
“But one with a longer durability is the 2007 film Stardust, starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Claire Danes and Sienna Miller. It was extensively filmed on Skye, and still the American market relates to it.”
Drew Millar, the Skye councillor who used to run the post office in Portree, said: “When people see a location on TV or in a film, they often seek it out.
“I remember when (BBC series) Hamish Macbeth was filmed in Plockton, there was a huge upsurge of interest.”
On the remote Orkney island of Papa Westray, writer Jim Hewitson, who used to run a guest house on the island with his wife, recalled the large number of visitors who would arrive having seen the island on a TV programme.
He said he fully expected some would want to see the 449-foot sea stack, the Old Man of Hoy with their own eyes, having seen it in the BFG.
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“It is to Orkney what the Cuillins are to Skye and even the pyramids are to Egypt,” he said. “Nobody who sees it is disappointed.”
Early reviews of The BFG, starring a digitally-enhanced Mark Rylance, have already praised it as an “instant family classic”.
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