Authorities in Switzerland are still waiting for Roman Polanski to post bail, insisting the moviemaker won't be freed until they are handed a multi-million dollar cheque.

Polanski has been behind bars since his arrest in Zurich in September in relation to a 1978 sex charge, and was finally granted bail last month after three failed attempts at freedom.

Officials are preparing to release him to his alpine chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland where he will remain under house arrest until Swiss authorities decide whether to extradite him to the United States.

But Polanksi has yet to post his bail bond, reportedly set around $4.5 million, and Swiss authorities will not release him until the sum is paid, according to French consul general in Zurich, Jean-Luc Faure-Tournaire.

But Faure-Tournaire insists the delay won't affect Polanski's chances of release: "The bail has to be posted. (But) nothing is being called into question, everything is going normally."

The 76 year old director fled to France in 1978 as he awaited sentencing for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl at a Hollywood party.

He was captured by Swiss authorities while attending a film festival in Zurich in September after 31 years on the run.