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Warner Bros. and Legendary have lined up Kevin Lima ("Enchanted") to direct "Spook's Apprentice," a project Tim Burton and Johnny Depp once eyed as a reteaming venture.

Lima has been heavily pursued by several studios, the Mouse House especially, since he directed "Enchanted" to boffo returns last holiday season.

He and the "Spook's" producing team flew to London last week to work on the adaptation of Joseph Delaney's children's tome, first in a six-part series, about a 13-year-old boy who learns about wizardry from a forbidding old spook.

Matt Greenberg originally adapted the project, which Warners and Legendary are co-producing and co-financing along with Thunder Road. Thunder Road's Basil Iwanyk is producing with Lionel Wigram and Lima's producing partner, Chris Chase. Alysia Cotter, who brought the project to the studio before she joined Legendary, is exec producing.

Lima is attached to several other projects, including at least one more at Warners. An animator who melded live action and toon sequences in "Enchanted," his earlier credits are all Mouse House toons.