First, it was Morgan Freeman, now Octavia Spencer will take a crack at playing the Almighty. Spencer is in final negotiations to play God in the upcoming adaptation of the bestselling novel, The Shack.
Based on the 2007 novel, the story follows a man whose youngest daughter is abducted during a family vacation, with evidence found in an abandoned shack leading authorities to believe she was murdered. Four years later, the man receives a note, apparently from God, inviting him back to the shack and, against his better judgment; he accepts the invitation and finds something there that will change his life forever.
Acquired by Lionsgate in 2013, the best seller has sold more than 18 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 39 languages.
The role looks like another strong opportunity for Spencer, who won both an Academy and Black Reel Awards for her role in The Help.
Spencer has been busy since her awards recognition, balancing her time between dramas, big-budget tentpoles and TV roles. In 2014, she appeared in Snowpiercer, the James Brown biopic Get on Up, and the drama Black and White, for which she received some of her strongest reviews since The Help.
Next up for this busy actress is Insurgent, the follow-up to the box office hit Divergent, followed by Fathers and Daughters.