Reports that a fourth edition of The Simple Life, again starring friends-turned-feuders Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, is dead in the water are exaggerated to a degree that is, like, so not hot. Although Fox says it has no room on its schedule for the celebutante-based spectacle, producers are confident that the "ladies" will find a new home. "[This] is still a dynamic and valuable franchise, [and] we hope to announce a new network partner in the coming days," says a statement from Twentieth Century Fox Television. Adds Simple Life exec-producer Jonathan Murray, "We have a hit series starring two of the most-written-about women in the world. We're very excited about the creative plans for the next group of episodes." And just what are those plans?
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Question: As a lover of Broadway musicals, I'm excited that The Producers and Rent are on their way to being movies. But I haven't heard a peep about plans to bring Wicked to the screen. It seems to be a natural – great plot, music and stars. Have you heard any buzz?
Answer: There don't appear to be any plans in the works to adapt Wicked as a movie, which may be because everyone's waiting to see how well Rent and The Producers do at the box office. Gregory Maguire's original novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1999), was optioned in 2000 for a four-hour ABC TV-movie, but that project is officially dead.
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