According to the Daily Mail, director Matthew Warchus has left the in-the-works West End adaptation of the Oscar-winning film Shakespeare in Love. The production now begins the search for a new director.

Winner of 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress - Gwyneth Paltrow and Best Supporting Actress - Judi Dench, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is noted playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard's imaginative restaging and reworking of the story of William Shakespeare which proceeds to present a thesis for how he came to write many of the finest dramas and comedies written in the English language. Boasting gorgeous costumes, breathtaking sets and an unmistakably Shakespearean atmosphere, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE has aged considerably well and looks even more rapturous and resplendent on Blu-ray than it ever has before. The new Blu-ray also comes with a fascinating slew of special features, the most appreciable of all being the two commentary tracks, one from director John Madden and another from assorted cast and crew members. Boasting an all-star cast to best even the Bard's vaunted coterie of performers themselves, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is lousy with pedigree - and nearly every actor makes his or her mark over the quite tight, terse running time of the film. In addition to the aforementioned Oscar-betrothed leading lady and supporting player, the cast of SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE also boasts recent Oscar-winner for THE KING'S SPEECH, Colin Firth, in a memorable role, as well as a charismatic lead performance by Joseph Fiennes as the titular playwright. Additionally, British stage stars Simon Callow, Antony Sher, Imelda Staunton, Tom Wilkinson and Tony Award-winning Australian leading man Geoffrey Rush all make solid impressions in their smaller roles. Yet, as with all of the greatest works of William Shakespeare, the text is the star, and Stoppard's precise and exacting script is much like a modern Shakespeare play in the way it juggles moments of levity, intrigue, history, comedy, tragedy and love into the drama of the film. While SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE may have been somewhat derided at the time for being too light to win over that year's favorite, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, time has been kind to the theatrically-tinged film, and, dare I say, it is even more enjoyable and entertaining now, on Blu-ray, than it may have even been at the time of its release fifteen years ago. All the world may be a stage, by SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is a Hollywood film relating to Shakespeare worth your time, attention and investment.

SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, the 1998 British-American comedy film directed by John Madden and written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard is coming on Blu-ray on January 31st.

SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, the 1998 British-American comedy film directed by John Madden and written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard is coming on Blu-ray on January 31st.

Variety reports today that the latest Disney Theatrical undertaking will be a stage adaptation of Shakespeare In Love by original film scribe Tom Stoppard. The media giant will be partnering with Sonia Friedman productions on the production, which will be directed by Jack O'Brien and designed by Bob Crowley. The play is expected to premiere in London. No dates or production timeline has been announced.

Miramax and The Weinstein Company (TWC) today announced an agreement to create sequels to some of Miramax's best-known properties and to partner on potential new television shows and special edition home entertainment products.

In a special feature with the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph, powerhouse producer Sonia Friedman, the force behind the West End's Legally Blonde, talks the record-breaking production, feminism and her upcoming ventures. Included on this impressive list is a January West End transfer of Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem, one of the season's most successful productions that played the Royal Court, and developing a musical adaptation of the blockbuster Shakespeare in Love. And this after just opening A Little Night Music with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury on Broadway and preparing to open the Liev Schreiber/Scarlett Jonhansson-led A View from the Bridge on Broadway in January. In fact, Friedman has no fewer than 56 projects on her 'to-do list.'

British Theater Producer Sonia Friedman recently spoke with The New York Times about her current and upcoming projects. Friedman is currently producing eight shows including two West End hits rumored for transfer to Broadway- La Cage aux Folles and Arcadia.