"Alpha Dog" and "Lords of Dogtown" star Emile Hirsch put a bug in the Hitlist's ear last week, but Variety has just confirmed that the young actor is set to star in the Alaskan adventure "Into the Wild" for director Sean Penn. This is the mercurial actor's first directing gig since 2001's underrated "The Pledge" and is a welcome return. Penn also wrote the screenplay, which is an adaptation of Jon Krakauer's bestselling and harrowing nonfiction book. The story finds Hirsch playing Christopher McCandless, a real-life Emory University graduate who, after college, abandoned all of his possessions and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness in an attempt to return to nature. Four months after his departure, he was found dead in an abandoned bus at a remote campsite. Hirsch told the Hitlist that production would begin this August.

As expected, Disney and Walden Media are moving ahead with a sequel to the mammoth hit "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." According to The Hollywood Reporter, director Andrew Adamson is returning to helm "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian." The second installment in C.S. Lewis' seven-book series finds the four Pevensie siblings pulled back into the world of Narnia where 1,000 years have passed since they last left. The family must struggle to overthrow the evil king Miraz and return the rightful heir (the young Prince Caspian) to the throne. Producer Mark Johnson says all of the young stars of the first "Narnia" will return, but there is no word on who will play Caspian or Miraz. Although there is no script yet, production is expected to begin by the end of the year with the studios eyeing a Christmas 2007 release.

Next Column: Harrison Ford ignites a "Fireball"; the cast of "When a Stranger Calls" speaks; and more.

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