Shows go out with a B.O. bang

'The Mountaintop'Broadway continued to sled down the slopes of January doldrums in week 34 (Jan. 16-22), as sales at most productions declined, and two shows ended their runs.Each of those shuttering productions, "Follies" ($878,880) and "The Mountaintop" ($693,128), took advantage of the week's lowered sales bar to claim a spot in the top 10. In a rare turn, "Mountaintop" became one of two plays on the tuner-dominated chart, alongside "War Horse" ($960,191).Also in the top 10, the recently opened "Porgy and Bess" ($878,884) continued to log encouraging sales, with the revival upticking even in the midst of the winter slowdown.Meanwhile, although "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" ($1,319,824) didn't close, the frame was the last for star Darren Criss, who pulled in weekly sales of more than $1.3 million three frames in a row.Almost every production logged a decline. The Broadway cume fell approximately $1.6 million to $19.3 million for the 28 shows on the boards, with overall attendance coming in at 78%. The week's tally is well ahead of the same frame's receipts in 2011, but last year's $12.3 million was for only 19 total shows.The past week's 19 musicals grossed $15,597,013 for 80.6% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 169,104 and an average paid admission of 92.23The nine plays grossed $3,748,300 for 19.4% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 50,641 and an average paid admission of 74.02. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com

Fox's 'War' receives PG-13 rating after edits

Fox's 'This Means War,' starring Chris Pine, Reese Witherspoon and Tom Sturdy, remains rated PG-13 with the MPAA.A following day of denying Fox's appeal for just about any lower rating, the MPAA has given an extremely edited version of "This Means War" a PG-13 rating. Studio eliminate a few sex jokes from actress Chelsea Handler, with different resource near the project, and resubmitted the film for the Classification and Rating Appeals Board.Pic, directed by Micrograms, stars Chris Pine, Tom Sturdy and Reese Witherspoon. Pine and Sturdy play nearest friend CIA agents who fall for a similar lady. Timothy Dowling and Simon Kinberg written the script.Fox had recently be a huge hit an R-rating presented to the film, the CARA board declined Thursday (Daily Variety, Jan. 27).The other day, the studio knocked up "War" to start Feb. 14 to coincide with Valentine's.

'The Help' Leads NAACP Image Award Nominees

La (AP) "The AssistanceInch remains offered eight Image Award nominations.The variation of Kathryn Stockett's best-selling novel about black service personnel speaking out regarding white-colored companies through the civil rights movement introduced the 43rd annual NAACP Image Honours nominations Thursday. It's competing for outstanding film against "Jumping the Broom," ''Pariah," ''The First Grader" and "Tower Heist."The medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" and football sitcom "The SportInch ruled the tv groups with six nominations each.Beyonce and Jill Scott both received four nominations inside the music groups. They'll vie against Jennifer Hudson, Ledisi and Mary J. Blige for your outstanding female artist trophy.The Country's Association for your Development of Colored People Image Honours recognition diversity inside the arts and you'll be presented Feb. 17 on NBC.Copyright 2012 Connected Press. All rights reserved. These elements is probably not launched, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

'Les Miserables' Movie Casts Aaron Tveit as Rebellion Leader

It's official: Aaron Tveit has signed a deal to participate the cast of "Ces Miserables," Universal and dealing Title's large-screen adaptation in the classic musical.Oscar champion Tom Hooper ("The King's Speech") is pointing the film, whose cast includes Hugh Jackman as billed bread stealer Jean Valjean and Russell Crowe as his enemy Inspector Javert.Due to the brilliant recognition in the musical, the film has created lots of speculation about which stars will join the expansion. Hathaway As Catwoman, Amanda Seyfried and Eddie Redmayne are confirmed. Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter, whose names have made an appearance concerning the the expansion, aren't formally in at this time around.Tveit, who may be most broadly known in the work on the CW's "Gossip Girl," may have Enjolras, who leads students rebellion inside the streets of Paris and orders Javert's execution.William Nicholson ("Gladiator"), Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schnberg written the script, basing it round the Victor Hugo novel as well as the musical. The film features a release date of December 7, 2012, so Universal must move quickly.Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working Title are coming up with with Debra Hayward and Cameron Mackintosh.Tveit, repped by CAA and Elin Flack, will next be seen with Ernest Gordon-Levitt in "Premium Hurry," which opens in August. The Hollywood Reporter

ABC orders Kari Lizer pilot

Lizer ABC has picked up the pilot for a comedy from Kari Lizer and Warner Bros. TV.The untitled half-hour multicamera project concerns a high-powered female executive who has dominated corporate America for years, facing the biggest challenge of her life: finding herself unemployed and acting as a full-time mom to her two teenagers.Last week, Lizer landed a pilot order from NBC for a project about two femme friends, also from Warner Bros. TV.Lizer was creator and exec producer of the CBS laffer "The New Adventures of Old Christine." Contact Andrew Wallenstein at andrew.wallenstein@variety.com

'Contraband' steals top spot at Friday B.O.

'Contraband'With three new hopefuls entering the domestic marketplace, auds sided with Universal's "Contraband," earning it $8.7 million yesterday.The Relativity/Working Title co-production reportedly cost $25 million to make, and should slightly exceed that in gross over the four-day weekend.In an effort to capitalize on Monday's school holiday and the massive success of its "Lion King" 3D re-release, Disney opened its 3D post-converted "Beauty and the Beast" Friday to $5.6 million. Mouse distribution prexy Dave Hollis said the "Lion King" conversion to 3D cost the studio in the low single digits, which means even a relatively low open for "Beauty" (insiders are saying close to $22 million through Monday) will mean solid returns for the company.Third place Friday saw a dead tie between Warner Bros.' opener "Joyful Noise" and Paramount's holdover "Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol." Both grossed $3.3 million yesterday. The latter, in its fifth week in release, has reached $178.5 million Stateside, while the former is looking at a four-day take in the mid- to high-teens.Par Insurge's "The Devil Inside" added another $2.7 million yesterday for a domestic cume of $41 million. The scarer reportedly cost only $1 million to acquire, so even its astounding 87% week-to-week drop won't have execs worried. The significant drop is likely due to poor word-of-mouth, with 66% of auds giving the pic a Cinemascore of C or lower. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com