Salma Hayek Turning Wicked Into A TV Miniseries

Universal is still trying to get the ball rolling on a big screen adaptation of Wicked, the mega-hit Broadway musical based on Gregory Maguire's novel that takes a revisionist look at the saga of the Wicked Witch of the West and her frenemy Glinda. But with the movie still without a director it may be a while before we see it, and in the meantime, there's a whole novel there that's ripe for the taking-- and Salma Hayek, of all people, is going to be the one to pick up the ball and run with it.

According to THR, Hayek is producing along with ABC an eight-hour miniseries version of Wicked, which will hew closely to Maguire's novel and will not be a musical. It's still early in development so it's not clear if Hayek will play a role, though given that the two leads start as school-age girls, it's unlikely she could play either lead. Miniseries are incredibly uncommon these days, especially on the networks, but Wicked is such a gigantic Broadway hit-- and the book is a best-seller too-- that this could be the one to break the mold. The same teenage girls who have made the Twilight franchise a monster success could muster up the patience to watch all eight hours of Wicked, and maybe drag their parents to the TVs as well.

Given how early we are in the development process it will be a while before the Wicked miniseries comes to television, but there will likely be plenty of casting news in the meantime, so keep checking back for more.