Motion picture and television talent agent/manager J.J. Harris died of what is believed to be natural causes on Friday afternoon and was found today in her Beverly Hills home by her staff. She was 62. Always classy and funny but never a pushover, she at one time was among the top women talent agents and sole…

Telluride has been buzzing since last night’s first screening of Steve McQueen‘s excellent slavery drama, 12 Years A Slave. One site which shall remain nameless was so overcome that the writer already just about declared the Oscar race over and done. “Guess we don’t have to go to Toronto now,” said a publicist here…

Los Angeles-area movie production took another gut punch a few days ago when news surfaced that the Man of Steel sequel will shoot in Detroit. But now comes a glimmer of good news for locals lamenting runaway production: North Carolina is nearing an end to its tax incentive for filming there. The Wall Street Journal re…

ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox all broke into their programming today to cover the commander-in-chief’s speech at 10:50 PT this morning. All of the cable news outlets covered the speech as well. CBS and NBC were carrying pricey live sports programming — tennis’ U.S. Open and English Premier League soccer, respectively. (NBC…

If you missed Deadline’s top TV stories, check them out: Harry Connick Jr To The Rescue? Crooner In The Mix For 'American Idol' Judge By Nellie Andreeva – EXCLUSIVE: He is a self-professed big fan of American Idol who has done two very well-received stints as a guest mentor on the Fox singing competition and has been…

Joel and Ethan Coen have a ton of Oscars and other awards on their shelves, but the duo is fairly elusive when it comes to touting themselves and their work. So it isn’t exactly surprising that they’d never agreed to a Telluride Film Festival tribute, until this year. And the only way — a smart and entertaining one as…

The judging panel for the 13th season of American Idol is expected to be in place by the end of the weekend so production can get underway as planned. Harry Connick Jr. is finalizing a deal to take the third spot alongside Keith Urban and Jennifer Lopez. As we first reported, Connick Jr. emerged as a leading candidate…

EXCLUSIVE: Following the massively positive reaction to Stephen Frears’ Philomena here in Venice, The Weinstein Co is firming its U.S. release plans. Philomena will go out first in New York and Los Angeles on Christmas Day and then will open wide on January 10, say TWC execs Robert Walak and Negeen Yazdi. The movie…

One of the most anticipated films in the Venice competition, Stephen Frears' Philomena blew a breath of fresh air onto the Lido this morning. Essentially a Judi Dench/Steve Coogan two-hander, it screened to laughs, tears and lots of applause – the latter both during and after the film. Following a series of intensely…

Hyperbole at film festivals is to be expected, BUT even with direct competition from Brad Pitt and the Coen brothers, the reaction to the first public screening Friday night anywhere of director Denis Villenueve’s thrilling and penetrating drama Prisoners at the 40th Telluride Film Festival was completely unexpected…

London’s ‘X Factor’ Musical Finds Its Simon Cowell Nigel Harman, the former Eastenders star who has a role in Season 4 of Downton Abbey, has been tapped to play a character based on Simon Cowell in I Can’t Sing! The X Factor Musical. The show will be directed by Olivier Award-winner and Tony Award-nominee, Sean Foley…

EXCLUSIVE: American Idol host Ryan Seacrest is taking on a new role for Fox — a matchmaker. I’ve learned that the network has quietly greenlighted Dream Date, a dating competition series from Ryan Seacrest Prods. Details about the top–secret project — now shooting on location — are scarce, but I hear it revolves…