Fool The Bible producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey once by setting the Internet ablaze with a potentially damning controversy, shame on them. But they won.t be headed down that path a second time, as the married duo have already decided that their upcoming theatrical film Son of God, which is largely culled from the previously aired footage of the History miniseries, will not feature any scenes with Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni playing Satan. This is in response to last year.s viral outbreak of photos comparing the likenesses of Satan and President Barack Obama. It was almost definitely unintentional, but taking the character out of the narrative altogether is a clear sign of how little Burnett and Downey want to deal with a possible resurgence of Satan talk instead of more heavenly praises. Downey sounds particularly headstrong about the decision, saying she wanted Jesus to be the absolute focal...
- 2/18/2014
- cinemablend.com
'The devil is on the cutting-room floor. This is now a movie about Jesus … the devil gets no more screen time,' says producer of The Son Of God
• Quiz: Name that Satan
Controversial scenes in which an actor with a startling resemblance to Us President Barack Obama portrayed Satan have been cut from the big-screen version of a hit mini-series about Jesus' life.
Producers of Son of God, which is based on the hugely popular 2013 TV mini-series The Bible, said they had removed the offending episodes. The veteran Moroccan actor Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni, who viewers and commentators said closely resembled Obama, will not appear in the film .
"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," producer Roma Downey revealed during an interview with the Hollywood Reporter.
• Quiz: Name that Satan
Controversial scenes in which an actor with a startling resemblance to Us President Barack Obama portrayed Satan have been cut from the big-screen version of a hit mini-series about Jesus' life.
Producers of Son of God, which is based on the hugely popular 2013 TV mini-series The Bible, said they had removed the offending episodes. The veteran Moroccan actor Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni, who viewers and commentators said closely resembled Obama, will not appear in the film .
"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," producer Roma Downey revealed during an interview with the Hollywood Reporter.
- 2/18/2014
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
A new version of the History Channel's hit miniseries The Bible has cut all scenes featuring Satan.
A number of Twitter users - including conservative TV host Glenn Beck - claimed that the show's depiction of the Devil resembled Us President Barack Obama when it originally aired last year.
Anyone else think the Devil in #TheBible Sunday on HIstory Channel looks exactly like That Guy? twitter.com/glennbeck/stat…
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) March 17, 2013
Producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey told The Wrap that they have "cast Satan out" of Son of God - a two-hour cutdown edit of The Bible to be released in cinemas from February 28.
"For our movie, Son of God, I wanted all of the focus to be on Jesus," Downey said. "I want his name to be on the lips of everyone who sees this movie, so we cast Satan out. It gives me great...
A number of Twitter users - including conservative TV host Glenn Beck - claimed that the show's depiction of the Devil resembled Us President Barack Obama when it originally aired last year.
Anyone else think the Devil in #TheBible Sunday on HIstory Channel looks exactly like That Guy? twitter.com/glennbeck/stat…
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) March 17, 2013
Producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey told The Wrap that they have "cast Satan out" of Son of God - a two-hour cutdown edit of The Bible to be released in cinemas from February 28.
"For our movie, Son of God, I wanted all of the focus to be on Jesus," Downey said. "I want his name to be on the lips of everyone who sees this movie, so we cast Satan out. It gives me great...
- 2/18/2014
- Digital Spy
The Satan scenes from "The Bible" mini-series have been cut from Fox's upcoming tie-in film release "Son of God". The upcoming feature trims down the ten hour mini-series to two hours, putting the focus entirely on the Jesus scenes.
The mini-series hit a minor controversy last year when it was pointed out that acclaimed actor Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni, who played The Devil in the mini-series, bore a striking resemblance to President Barack Obama.
At the time producers Mark Burnett, Roma Downey and History Channel each issued statements supporting the president and slamming those who made the connection.
For the movie, the aim is to avoid any such controversy, as such the reshaping of the film went out of its way to excise the Satan scenes altogether.
In a statement Downey says: "Someone made a comment that the actor who played the devil vaguely resembled our president, and suddenly the media went nuts.
The mini-series hit a minor controversy last year when it was pointed out that acclaimed actor Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni, who played The Devil in the mini-series, bore a striking resemblance to President Barack Obama.
At the time producers Mark Burnett, Roma Downey and History Channel each issued statements supporting the president and slamming those who made the connection.
For the movie, the aim is to avoid any such controversy, as such the reshaping of the film went out of its way to excise the Satan scenes altogether.
In a statement Downey says: "Someone made a comment that the actor who played the devil vaguely resembled our president, and suddenly the media went nuts.
- 2/18/2014
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
“Son of God” producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey have cast Satan out of their upcoming Biblical epic about Jesus Christ, an individual familiar with the 20th Century Fox project has told TheWrap. “Son of God” is a reshaped version of last year’s hit History Channel miniseries “The Bible,” which co-starred Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni as Satan. Burnett and Downey came under fire last year because Ouazanni bears a striking resemblance to President Barack Obama, though the producers said at the time that the casting controversy was unintentional and merely coincidental. Also read: Jesus Is Back on the Big Screen in ‘Son of.
- 2/17/2014
- by Jeff Sneider
- The Wrap
Mehdi Ouazzani, the actor who played Satan in "The Bible," says his supposed resemblance to President Obama was "nonsense" -- but has helped raise his profile. The Morrocan actor spoke to the Associated Press in Casablanca. "For someone like me, a simple unknown actor, to find himself in a controversy like this -- even though it's nonsense -- it makes me known around the world, so it's something positive," he said, chuckling. The AP said that with his "gray hair pulled back in a ponytail, an expressive face and a slim Errol Flynn-style...
- 4/9/2013
- by Tim Molloy
- The Wrap
Casablanca, Morocco — Mehdi Ouazzani isn't the devil, but he has played one on TV – only he didn't realize that some thought he looked like President Barack Obama while he was at it.
A veteran Moroccan actor with decades of film experience, Ouazzani was bemused to wake up one morning and find that his role in The History Channel's popular five-part miniseries "The Bible" had become the latest way for conservative commentators in the United States to needle the president.
"One morning somebody called me and said `you have to look at your email' and I was so surprised," Ouazzani told The Associated Press in Casablanca before jetting off to the remote desert town of Erfoud, where he's playing a police inspector in a German crime drama.
"For someone like me, a simple unknown actor, to find himself in a controversy like this – even though it's nonsense – it makes me known around the world,...
A veteran Moroccan actor with decades of film experience, Ouazzani was bemused to wake up one morning and find that his role in The History Channel's popular five-part miniseries "The Bible" had become the latest way for conservative commentators in the United States to needle the president.
"One morning somebody called me and said `you have to look at your email' and I was so surprised," Ouazzani told The Associated Press in Casablanca before jetting off to the remote desert town of Erfoud, where he's playing a police inspector in a German crime drama.
"For someone like me, a simple unknown actor, to find himself in a controversy like this – even though it's nonsense – it makes me known around the world,...
- 4/9/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Although History raised eyebrows for the controversial casting of a President Obama-esque Satan in The Bible mini-series, the actor who plays Jesus calls the situation "hilarious." "I don't think that's controversial at all, I think that's so funny," Diogo Morgado told The Hollywood Reporter. "It's just funny." Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni, who plays the devil, "did a nice job and it was awesome and never -- not even for one second -- were we even thinking about that, so I think it's hilarious," said Morgado. "At the same time, I think it's just a sign of how successful the show
read more...
read more...
- 3/20/2013
- by Erin Carlson
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The History Channel's "The Bible" ten-part mini-series is already a major hit after the first three episodes, but is now getting attention for the wrong reasons. It turned out that Satan ended up looking identical to President Barack Obama. The actor cast as Satan is Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni, who appeared in several other religious-themes programs many years before Obama was a known political figure. However, many viewers are outraged, which resulted in "The Bible" producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey to comment on the controversy. "This is utter nonsense," they said. "The actor who played Satan, Mehdi Ouazanni, 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." The History Channel added: "History channel has the highest respect for President Obama. The series was produced with an international and diverse cast of respected actors.
- 3/19/2013
- WorstPreviews.com
The History Channel miniseries "The Bible" made headlines on Sunday - but not for its huge ratings.
Some on Twitter said actor Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni - who plays Satan on the miniseries - resembled President Barack Obama, something the producers do not agree with.
"This is utter nonsense. The actor who played Satan, Mehdi ...
Copyright 2013 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Some on Twitter said actor Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni - who plays Satan on the miniseries - resembled President Barack Obama, something the producers do not agree with.
"This is utter nonsense. The actor who played Satan, Mehdi ...
Copyright 2013 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
- 3/18/2013
- by nobody@accesshollywood.com (AccessHollywood.com Editorial Staff)
- Access Hollywood
Reminiscent of the controversy over George W. Bush’s severed head making a Game Of Thrones cameo, as well as the most sloppily kerned placard at the protest rally, Barack Obama is Satan on the History Channel’s popular miniseries The Bible. Or at least, that’s the consensus reached by people on Twitter who were probably already predisposed to make such a connection—people such as Glenn Beck, who used his famed powers of deduction to note what he saw as a resemblance between the drama’s Satan, actor Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni, and “That Guy,” Beck’s diamonds-daisies-and-snowflakes sobriquet ...
- 3/18/2013
- avclub.com
Are the creators of History Channel’s The Bible trying to tell us something? Here’s a photo of actor Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni as Satan in “Hope,” one of two episodes that aired last night:
Yeah, he definitely bears a striking resemblance to Frank Langella as Richard Nixon. Or, you know, a cross between President Barack Obama and Emperor Palpatine. Guess this is just one of the “weird things” that happened on the show’s set.
Folks started to notice the connection between Obama and History’s Satan last night, while the program was still airing. Thank Glenn Beck for...
Yeah, he definitely bears a striking resemblance to Frank Langella as Richard Nixon. Or, you know, a cross between President Barack Obama and Emperor Palpatine. Guess this is just one of the “weird things” that happened on the show’s set.
Folks started to notice the connection between Obama and History’s Satan last night, while the program was still airing. Thank Glenn Beck for...
- 3/18/2013
- by Hillary Busis
- EW.com - PopWatch
The resemblance between President Obama and an actor who plays the devil on History's "The Bible" has drawn more than a little notice. Conservative commentator Glenn Beck was among the first to take to Twitter to point out the resemblance between Obama and actor Mohamen Mehdi Ouzaani. A slew of tweets and news stories ensued, many from Obama supporters who weren't pleased. History did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap. In the miniseries, the actor resembles an older version of the U.S. president. Last year, HBO's "Game of Thrones"...
- 3/18/2013
- by Tim Molloy
- The Wrap
Coincidence, or not-so-subtle political commentary? A major hit already, History Channel's 10-part miniseries The Bible is stirring up extra attention for its casting. The role of Satan, i.e. the bad guy, is played by the actor Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni, who, thanks to makeup and other production tricks, bears a startling resemblance to President Barack Obama. The resemblance was pointed out on Twitter while the show still aired on Sunday. Glenn Beck, the Christian conservative broadcaster who has called the series "one of the most important shows in decades," sent out a
read more...
read more...
- 3/18/2013
- by Jordan Zakarin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.