According to Variety, Walden Media and the Walt Disney Co. are closer to the beginning of production on their next collaboration, Bridge to Terabithia.

Companies' recent project, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, has been mauling King Kong at the domestic and foreign B.O.

Filmmakers have cast thesp Josh Hutcherson in the lead role in Bridge, which starts lensing later this month in New Zealand.

Pic, to be helmed by Gabor Csupo, is based on Katherine Paterson's famed novel about a boy whose life is changed when he befriends an outsider. The two create a world called Terabithia, an imaginary kingdom filled with giants, trolls and other magical beings.

Hutcherson last starred onscreen in Regency's Little Manhattan and Sony's Zathura. He has a role in another Sony release, the upcoming RV, and another Regency pic, Firehouse Dog.