WICKED Miniseries Deemed 'a Fabulous Idea' by ABC President

ABC President Paul Lee spoke with reporters in more detail about the announced WICKED miniseries.  "It's epic, it's romantic, and it's very much within our brand," he said. "We're in the development stage. I don't know if we're going to get there, but the notion of having it resonate elsewhere in the company [is] a very good thing for us."

Lee went on to say that there are "no concerns at all" that the miniseries would be too similar to any other Wicked franchises including the much talked about movie adaptation of the musical.  The miniseries will be based on the Gregory Maguire novel, rather than the musical.

Sources confirm to TVLine.com's Michael Ausiello that actress-producer Salma Hayek will team with ABC to develop an eight-hour miniseries adaptation of "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West."

Ausiello reports that ABC Studios will "produce along with Hayek and Jose Tamez through the duo's Ventanarosa Productions. The ex-Ugly Betty producer may also play a supporting role in the project, which is being penned by Erik Jendresen (Band of Brothers)."

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The musical adaptation of Maguire's novel continues to break box office records. For the third time in just six weeks, the Broadway smash WICKED has grossed over $2 million for one week of performances. For the week ending Sunday, November 28, the musical, now in its 8th year, grossed $2,150,665, and for the week ending December 26, the musical surpassed its own record, grossing $2,153,110. For the week ending January 2, 2011, the musical shattered the record once again, making Broadway history by taking in an unprecedented $2,228,235 and setting a new house record at the Gershwin Theatre.

Additionally, the show's two North American touring productions broke box office records in Chicago ($1,726,476) and Indianapolis ($1,597,732), bringing the musical's one-week North American box office gross to $5,552,443.

The musical, which was called "the defining musical of the decade" by The New York Times, currently has 7 productions: New York, London, Osaka (Japan), Oberhausen (Germany), and two concurrent North American National Tours, and an Australian tour. WICKED has amassed over $2.1 billion globally in ticket sales and has been seen by over 26 million people worldwide in its 7-year history.

Winner of 35 major awards including the Grammy Award and three Tony Awards, WICKED is the untold story of the witches of Oz. Long before Dorothy drops in, two other girls meet in the land of Oz. One, born with emerald-green skin, is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. WICKED tells the story of their remarkable odyssey, how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good.

Declared "The Best Musical of the Decade" by Entertainment Weekly and "A Cultural Phenomenon" by Variety, WICKED is based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and a book by Winnie Holzman. The production is directed by Joe Mantello with musical staging by Wayne Cilento. WICKED is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone.

The musical currently stars Mandy Gonzalez as Elphaba, Katie Rose Clarke as Glinda, Kyle McDaniel as Fiyero, Kathy Fitzgerald as Madame Morrible, P.J. Benjamin as The Wizard, Etai BenShlomo as Boq, Jenny Fellner as Nessarose, and Tom Flynn as Dr. Dillamond.

Tickets are available through Ticketmaster www.ticketmaster.com/wicked. For more information, visit www.wickedthemusical.com. WICKED is performed at the Gershwin Theatre, 222 West 51st Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue.