Oscar winner Tim Robbins is in the final stages of a deal to star in Columbia Pictures' "Zathura" for helmer Jon Favreau. Shooting is scheduled to start this summer.

Former DreamWorks production topper Michael De Luca has joined the producing team behind "Zathura," marking the first existing studio project he has boarded since forming his Columbia-based production outfit.

David Koepp penned the most recent version of the script, based on the novel by Chris Van Allsburg, who also wrote the family adventure film "Jumanji." "Zathura" is not being billed as a sequel to that film, however, since no characters from "Jumanji" carry over to "Zathura."

Like "Jumanji," though, "Zathura's" plot does center on a board game that sends kids into another world -- this time an intergalactic environment rather than a jungle.

Robbins will play the father of the children who discover the board game in a role that is said to bookend the film.

De Luca will be working alongside the project's existing producers, Bill Teitler, Ted Field and Peter Billingsley.

At the studio, executive vp production Amy Baer and director of development and production Shannon Gaulding are overseeing along with co-president of production Matt Tolmach.

Robbins is repped by CAA. He picked up his best supporting actor Oscar in February for his role in Clint Eastwood's "Mystic River." He can next be seen in Michael Winterbottom's "Code 46."