'Satan Obama' Removed From Film Version of History Channel's The Bible

The film version of a biblical US TV series is to remove all scenes featuring the character Satan following complaints the actor who portrays him resembles Barack Obama.

Producers of the film Son of God, based on the History Channel's 10-part TV show, The Bible, have said all the scenes featuring actor Mehdi Ouzaani will not feature in the film after the comments made when the show first aired last March.

Following Satan's first appearance in the TV series, social media was abuzz with people, including Republican talk-show host Glenn Beck, who noted the uncanny resemblance between Satan and the US President.

The makers of the show released a statement denying this was done on purpose and that people were making a "false connection".

Now Roma Downey, one of the producers of the film version of the show, has said the scenes featuring Satan will now be removed in order to stop a repeat of the "utter nonsense".

She told the Hollywood Reporter: "It gives me great pleasure to tell you that the devil is on the cutting-room floor. This is now a movie about Jesus, the son of God, and the devil gets no more screen time."

Downey, who produced the film Son of God with her husband Mark Burnett, said she was unhappy with how people pointing to similarities with Ouzaani and Obama overshadowed the religious message of the show.

"Someone made a comment that the actor who played the devil vaguely resembled our president, and suddenly the media went nuts," Downey said. "The next day, when I was sure everyone would only be talking about Jesus, they were talking about Satan instead."

She added: "For our movie, Son of God, I wanted all of the focus to be on Jesus. I want his name to be on the lips of everyone who sees this movie, so we cast Satan out. It gives me great pleasure to tell you that the devil is on the cutting-room floor."

The producers previously recounted how Ouzaani was a highly acclaimed Moroccan actor and had played parts in several Biblical epics - including Satanic characters - long before Obama was elected president.

The Bible was a huge hit for the History Channel when it ran last year. The film version, which is to be cut down to two hours and focus of the life of Jesus, is due to be aired on 28 February in the US and 5 March in the UK.