The BFG (2016) was the final produced screenplay written by Melissa Mathison prior to her passing away during late 2015.
The BFG (2016) is dedicated to Melissa Mathison as a tribute. The film's closing credits dedication reads: "FOR OUR MELISSA".
The BFG (2016) marked the reunion of director Steven Spielberg and screenwriter Melissa Mathison, following their celebrated collaboration on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
According to The New Yorker magazine, the diagnosis of the film's late screenwriter Melissa Mathison's neuroendocrine cancer, was " . . . an illness that was only diagnosed as production of the movie neared its end."
Of the scenes that the film's late screenwriter Melissa Mathison saw, director Steven Spielberg has said: "I don't normally invite people to the cutting room, but I was so excited about the results that we were getting that I asked Melissa to come up and see some of this footage. She didn't get to see the whole movie, but she saw about seven complete sequences that were representative of the entire film-the entire opening in the orphanage, she saw all of dream country before the effects were in, she saw at least half of the queen's breakfast, and she saw some small interstitial scenes."