Stephen Daldry Departs WICKED Film Adaptation

Director Stephen Daldry has left his post as helmer of the upcoming "Wicked" film adaptation.

Stephen started his career at the Sheffield Crucible Theatre and directed extensively in Britain's regional theatres. In London he was Artistic Director of The Gate Theatre and The Royal Court Theatre where he headed the £26million redevelopment. He has also directed at The National Theatre, The Public Theatre in New York and transferred many productions both to Broadway and the West End. His 1992 National Theatre production of An Inspector Calls is currently touring the UK. His three films Billy Elliot, The Hours and The Reader have attracted 17 Academy Award nominations and two wins.

He recently directed "The Inheritance" on Broadway.

Sources told Deadline that Daldry was not comfortable moving forward as quickly as Universal Studios wanted to on the project, leading to his exit. It was an amicable split, and Universal is now IN SEARCH OF a new director.

JJ Abrams, James Mangold, Ryan Murphy, and Rob Marshall were all reportedly interested in directing the film when news of the adaptation first came out in 2010.

Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman created the music and book for the stage musical. "Wicked" is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, and focuses on the early relationship between Glinda the Good and Elphaba, a green-skinned beauty before she ended up a flying hag on a broomstick.

Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth starred in the original Broadway cast of the musical, which has run on Broadway since 2003.