It's been a long road for Universal's attempt to turn stage sensation Wicked into a movie, and there has been another twist: Stephen Daldry, who was rumoured and then attached to direct in 2012 (with chatter about him before that) is no longer working on the film.
According to Deadline, it was an amicable split between the director and the studio, with the sticking points being the speed with which Universal is hoping the film will now hit screens and a lack of studio space in London, Daldry's chosen shooting venue.
Universal is still hoping to have the film shooting next year, and the search is now on to find a new director, which should be a quick process should one of the big names who showed interest in the past (JJ Abrams, Rob Marshall, Ryan Murphy) be available.
The movie, which adapts the stage show written by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, is itself taken from Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life And Times Of The Wicked Witch Of The West. It follows the younger days of Elphaba, the witch-to-be and Glinda, the good witch, before crossing over into Wizard Of Oz territory.