From TV Goddess To Movie God

(CBS/AP)  Comedian Ellen DeGeneres 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 as the creator and John Denver 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."

Her hit television show ran from 1994 to 1998 and was nominated 10 times for Emmy awards, winning three, including one for DeGeneres herself in 1998 as lead actress and another for an episode she helped write. Her syndicated daytime talk show, which began in 2003, won several Emmys this year, including "Outstanding Talk Show."