There was a time when Hollywood movie musicals ruled the box office and you were more likely to find stars singing and dancing than beating up super-villains or firing off machine guns.

Those days may have come and gone, but the musical is far from dead. In fact, the recent success of TV’s Glee and the big-screen adaptation of Mamma Mia! suggest the genre may be on the rise. Hoping to take advantage of this swing of the proverbial pendulum are the makers of the hit Broadway show Wicked.

Deadline reports that the musical’s producer, Marc Platt, along with scripter Winnie Holzman and songwriter Stephen Schwartz have begun taking meetings in L.A. with directors. Their goal: bring the stage show to the silver screen.

Based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Wicked is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, focusing on the complicated relationship between Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba, the green-skinned villain of the classic story.

Since debuting on Broadway in 2003, the stage production has grossed over $2 billion worldwide, making it one of the most successful productions of all time.

Now Universal hopes to repeat its Mamma Mia! success by taking a beloved theatrical show and transferring the magic to film. To achieve such ends, the Wicked creative team is meeting with directors ranging from Star Trek’s J.J. Abrams to Chicago’s Rob Marshall.

Wicked is one of several Wizard of Oz related projects in development. Others include Sam Raimi’s wizard-origin story The Great and Powerful Oz and a pair of projects at Warners, a family friendly take called, simply, Oz and a darker, as-yet-untitled version of the story set in the present day.

(Photo by PR Photos)

Story provided by the Dish Information Corporation