JOHN Travolta has been dropped from Dallas, the big-screen adaptation of the 1980s popular television series.

According to pagesix.com:

Travolta, who was just nominated for a Golden Globe for donning a fat suit for his drag role in Hairspray, was "let go about two weeks ago. He had the role of J.R. Ewing taken from him and given to Ben Stiller." However, a rep for Stiller denies the comic actor accepted or was offered the part. "John was given a nice seven-figure 'gift' to go away quietly," our source added.

Stiller's reps denied he is attached to the project and the site reports that the project has had casting problems over the last year and suggest that Travolta may have been dropped because the tone of the movie was changing genres:

The first big upheaval occurred last year when Shirley MacLaine (who was to play Miss Ellie), Luke Wilson (Bobby Ewing) and Jennifer Lopez (Sue Ellen) were dropped from the cast. Meg Ryan and Matthew McConaughey's names were then brought up, but neither was signed. Director Robert Luketic was also let go in favor of Bend It Like Beckham helmer Gurinder Chadha, and the budget was downsized from an original $65 million to "something way less," the source said. Producers may be looking for a Stiller-like talent to take Travolta's role because the word is that Dallas will now -- if it ever gets made -- be a "comedic, behind-the-scenes" movie instead of the originally intended drama.

The big screen remake of the popular CBS drama that ran from 1978 to 1991 about J.R. Ewing, head of the most powerful energy company in the world and the patriarch of a Texas oil clan who are as shady in their business deals as they are in the family politics.