‘Wicked’ Eyes ‘Billy Elliot’ Director Stephen Daldry for Upcoming Film

According to Deadline.com Stephen Daldry, the Tony award-winning Billy Elliot director, is currently the leading candidate to direct the big screen adaptation by Universal of Wicked, the blockbuster musical. Other directors that have been rumored previously to head the project include James Mangold, J.J. Abrams, Rob Marshall and Ryan Murphy. No start date or casting have been announced yet for the project.

Wicked, a re-imagining of The Wizard of Oz, focuses on the previously untold stories of Glinda the Good and Wicked Witch of the West, two of the most famous characters from Oz. The musical follows Elphaba, the green-skinned witch, from her birth and life as a young girl to her college years and then through the critical events that change her life, eventually earning her the title “wicked.” This blockbuster musical first opened October 30, 2003. “Wicked” won a total of three Tony Awards, which included the Best Actress trophy going to Idina Menzel.

Broadway directing credits for Daldry also include An Inspector Call and Via Dolorosa. He was also nominated for Oscars for his directing work in The Reader, The Hours and Billy Elliot original film. Recently Daldry directed the Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close film adaptation.

Currently starring in the Wicked Broadway production are Chandra Lee Schwartz playing Glinda, Jackie Burns starring as Elphaba, Randy Danson plays Madame Morrible, Richard Blake plays Fiyero and Adam Grupper is The Wizard.

By Julie Harmon On July 13, 2012

All photos made available via creative commons licensing courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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