Satan cut from ‘Son of God’ after Obama look-alike controversy

“Son of God� won’t be giving the devil his due — or rather, his screen time.

To avoid another controversy about the character of Satan bearing a physical resemblance to President Obama in the upcoming religious film, the filmmakers have gone out of their way to edit the devil’s scenes out of “Son of God,� which is based on the TV miniseries “The Bible.�

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

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“Son of God,� which opens Feb. 28 from 20th Century Fox, is a two-hour film largely culled from the 10-hour miniseries, which originally aired on the History Channel last year.

“The Bible� was a huge ratings hit, and it attracted further attention in March when a number of viewers, including conservative pundit Glenn Beck, noticed a resemblance between Obama and Mohamen Mehdi Ouzaani, the actor who plays Satan in the miniseries.

In light of the popularity of “The Bible� among conservative Christians, as well as Obama’s relative unpopularity with the same demographic, some viewers wondered whether the film was making a political statement via its casting. In response, the History Channel issued a statement denying any link between Obama and Satan.

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“History Channel has the highest respect for President Obama,� the statement said. “It’s unfortunate that anyone made this false connection. History’s ‘The Bible’ is meant to enlighten people on its rich stories and deep history.�

Downey and husband Mark Burnett, who served as executive producers on the series, also released a statement at that time calling the controversy “utter nonsense.�

“The actor who played Satan, Mehdi Ouzaani, is a highly acclaimed Moroccan actor. He has previously played parts in several Biblical epics — including satanic characters long before Barack Obama was elected as our president.�

This time they’re seeking to avoid a similar frenzy. “Someone made a comment that the actor who played the devil vaguely resembled our president, and suddenly the media went nuts,� Downey said. For the movie version she said, “I wanted all of the focus to be on Jesus.�

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