Salma Hayek and ABC Developing "Wicked" Miniseries

This should be exciting news for fans of Gregory Maguire.  According to Variety, Salma Hayek and ABC are joining forces to develop an 8-hour miniseries based on his best-selling Wizard of Oz prequel, Wicked.

Now, before you put on your Elphaba and Galinda costumes and start belting out your best version of "Defying Gravity," know that this version will be an adaptation of Maguire's original 1995 novel, not the popular Broadway musical version.  So don't start singing that song either.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West is the about the twisted behind-the-scenes drama going on while the Wicked Witch of the West was terrorizing the Land of Oz...or at least, that's what you were meant to believe.  In the end, after hearing the "real" story, you're left wondering who the actual wicked ones were (I'll give you a hint:  it's ain't the Witch).  A sequel, Son of a Witch, was published in 2005.

Fans of the novel have grumbled that the musical, which has been playing to packed houses worldwide since 2003, severely watered down the book.  And it did.  While the book was a dark, violent political thriller, the musical was more about how the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch were friends before the events of The Wizard of Oz.  Songs from the show have even shown up on Glee.

I can see their point, but having read Maguire's novel and seen the musical on Broadway...I liked the show better.  The book was depressing.

Erik Jendresen ("Band of Brothers") will write the script for the miniseries, who will also executive production along with Hayek and Jose Tamaz.  No word yet on whether Hayak will play a role in the movie, but I should she'd be a good fit for it if she decides to go for it.

Plans for a movie version of the musical are currently underway at Universal, who also produced the stage version.