Bridge to Terabithia is a 2007 American fantasy drama film directed by Gábor Csupó (in his directorial debut) from a screenplay by David L. Paterson and Jeff Stockwell. It is based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Katherine Paterson and stars Josh Hutcherson, AnnaSophia Robb, Zooey Deschanel, and Robert Patrick. In the film, adolescent children Jess Aarons (Hutcherson) and Leslie Burke (Robb) create "Terabithia", a fantasy world, which they use to cope with their troubled reality and spend their free time together.

Plot

Jess Aarons is a 12-year-old aspiring artist living with his financially struggling family in Lark Creek. He rides the bus to school with his younger sister, May Belle, and is often bullied by two boys named Scott Hoager and Gary Fulcher, and a girl named Janice Avery. One day, Jess meets a new student named Leslie Burke. At recess, he enters a running event, for which he has been training at home. Leslie also enters and manages to win, frustrating Jess. On the way home, Jess and Leslie learn they are next-door neighbors.