LOS ANGELES – Comedian Ellen DeGeneres (search ) is getting a promotion — to supreme being. DeGeneres will star as God in a remake of the 1977 comedy "Oh, God!"
The original starred George Burns (search) as the creator and John Denver (search ) as a supermarket manager tapped as a new prophet.
"Ellen is a strong comedian and she has always done material about God and questions about God," said Jerry Weintraub, who produced the original movie and also will oversee the remake.
Weintraub said he'll hire a screenwriter and director with the aim to shoot the movie during a break in DeGeneres' schedule from her talk show next summer.
Though successful on the small screen, DeGeneres misfired in an earlier transition to film with the romantic-comedy flop "Mr. Wrong." She helped score a hit with her voice work on last year's animated tale "Finding Nemo."
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