MULTI-Oscar-nominated musical Wicked could be coming to the small screen — with talks for a new TV series based on the original book. The hit movie was up for ten Academy Awards at last night’s ceremony in Los Angeles. Now, the author of the novel on which it is loosely based — Wicked: The Life Times of the Wicked Witch of the West — has revealed there is interest in retelling the original tale, which is far more X-rated than the musical. Gregory Maguire, 70, told The Sun: “For many years there has been talk of a non-musical, original TV movie or a streaming series based on Wicked the novel, not Wicked the musical. “While we came pretty close several times to having such an operation greenlit, it hasn’t happened yet. “It may happen one day. “So those who like to live in hope don’t need to find a new address. “You never know.” His 1995 book is much more sordid than Universal Pictures’ family-friendly film — with incest, rape, bestiality and orgies. Demi Moore — nominated for Best Actress for her role in The Substance — originally tried to bring the story to the screen more than two decades ago. Gregory said in 2020: “When the book was published, it almost immediately got optioned by Demi Moore and a production company she ran, which had a relationship with Universal, and there was a chance for it to be a big-budget film almost right away. “But the film never quite crystallised.” The movie’s nominations last night also included Best Picture and Best Music. Brit star Cynthia Erivo, who played green witch Elphaba in the film, is up for Best Actress while Ariana Grande — good witch Glinda — was in the Best Supporting Actress category. More success is sure to follow this November when the second part of the musical is released — Wicked: For Good. The adaptation of the Broadway musical was split into two after director Jon M. Chu deemed it too long as a single film. Gregory has written and released sequels to the original novel and a prequel — called Elphie — will be published later this month. Studios are believed to be interested in developing the idea following the massive success of the first movie. Wicked was the third-highest grossing film in the UK last year and made £580million at the box office worldwide. Its stars Cynthia and Ariana opened last night’s Academy Awards — held at LA’s Dolby Theatre — with a musical performance from the hit film. Conan O’Brien hosted the ceremony, where Spanish-language Netflix musical Emilia Pérez led nominations with 13. However, the film has since fallen out of favour after it emerged trans star Karla Sofía Gascón previously posted a series of offensive tweets. The Brutalist had ten nominations, while A Complete Unknown and Conclave followed with eight apiece. There had been uncertainty over the ceremony going ahead after the area was hit by wildfires in January, with more than 100,000 residents forced to flee their homes. United Talent Agency and William Morris Endeavor scrapped their typically lavish after-parties out of respect and said they would instead be donating to fire relief causes. However, the main Vanity Fair soiree — as well as parties thrown by Beyoncé, Jay-Z and Madonna — still went ahead. Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme - Sun Club.