EXCLUSIVE: Former Heroes star Hayden Panettiere is heading back to primetime with a starring role in ABC's drama pilot Nashville. Written by Callie Khouri, directed by R.J. Cutler and produced by Lionsgate and ABC Studios, Nashville is described as a family soap about love, country music, family, politics and sex set…

EXCLUSIVE: Fox 2000 has set Downton Abbey helmer Brian Percival to direct The Book Thief, the Michael Petroni-scripted adaptation of the Marcus Zusak novel that has been on the Children’s Chapter Paperback New York Times bestseller list for 228 weeks. Twilight Saga‘s Karen Rosenfelt is producing, and a summer…

Weeds alumna Elizabeth Perkins is set to star opposite Sarah Chalke in Claudia Lonow's ABC comedy pilot How to Live With Your Parents For The Rest Of Your Life. The multi-camera/hybrid comedy, from 20th TV and Imagine, centers on Polly (Chalke), a recently divorced single mom, who moves in with her eccentric parents…

SHOCKER: Chris Nolan’s Agent Dan Aloni Fired From CAA EXCLUSIVE: Chris Nolan has just left CAA, in the wake of the firing of Dan Aloni. A source close to the situation tells me that Nolan and his producer/wife Emma Thomas, will be going wherever Aloni lands. This makes Aloni a prime commodity in the marketplace…

Veteran Christpher Lloyd has been tapped to star opposite John Leguizamo and Dustin Ybarra in ABC's multicamera comedy pilot Only Fools And Horses. Based on the British format, the multicamera comedy chronicles the misadventures of two streetwise brothers, Del (Leguizamo) and Rodney (Ybarra), and their aging…

EXCLUSIVE: Almost a decade after Romeo Miller first teamed with Tom Lynch for the Nickelodeon series Romeo!, the actor/rapper is back in business with the pre-eminent producer of comedy series for the tween and teen set. The two are collaborating on RESQ3, a high-school show that focuses on teen social issues. The…

EXCLUSIVE: Another movie has gotten an NC-17. Killer Joe, the Billy Friedkin-directed adaptation of the Tracy Letts play just got an NC-17 rating. That is one of the first releases by LD Entertainment, the new distribution company started by Mickey Liddell and run by David Dinerstein. They will appeal the rating and…

EXCLUSIVE: After a decade at Warner Bros TV, writer-producer Rina Mimoun is moving to ABC Studios where she has signed a two-year overall deal. Under the rich seven-figure pact, Mimoun will develop new projects for the studio and join its upcoming series Mistresses as an executive producer. The soap, based on the…

Freelance writer Dominic Patten is a Deadline contributor 3RD UPDATE, 4:35 PM: Stephen McPherson killed Edie Britt. That’s according to defense lawyer Adam Levin in his opening statement late this afternoon. Levin claims that the former ABC Entertainment president gave Desperate Housewives creator/executive producer…

Dane Cook is set to star in the NBC’s single-camera comedy pilot Next Caller Please. The Lionsgate/Universal TV project, written by Stephen Falk, centers on Cam Doherty (Cook), a brash, hard-drinking, no-filter maverick DJ of a satellite radio show whose world is rocked with the arrival of perky, feminist new on-air…

The high-profile documentary directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Amy Berg (Deliver Us From Evil) debuted at the recent Sundance Film Festival. Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson produced the film with first-time producers Damien Echols (a subject of the film) and Lorri Davis. West Of Memphis centers on the new…

Justified alumna Natalie Zea has joined Fox's untitled Kevin Williamson drama pilot. The project, from Warner Bros TV, is a thriller about ex-FBI agent Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) who leads the search to catch diabolical serial killer Joe Carroll (James Purefoy) who has created a cult of serial killers. Zea will play…