VIDEO: Rizzoli & Isles' Sasha Alexander: The Rift Can "Deepen" Jane and Maura's Relationship

Our top moments of the week:13. The Worst Ex Factor: If you have to ask, "You sure this isn't racist?" three times, chances are, it probably is. On MTV's The Challenge: Battle of the Exes, Emily decides to play a "prank" on her African-American partner and ex-boyfriend, Ty, by smearing chocolate all over her face to do a blackface impersonation of him with Camila, who does her best ... Read More > Other Links From TVGuide.com Brendon VillegasRachel ReillyAmazing Race 20Vanessa MaciasBig BrotherSean HayesParks and RecreationThe BachelorDesperate HousewivesThe RiverCougar TownTop ChefBen FlajnikKaty PerryThe Lying GameThe Walking DeadEdward LeeRaising HopeSmashSurvivor: One World

Britton heads to ABC's 'Nashville'

Connie Britton continues to be cast within the lead role for ABC pilot "Nashville," compiled by Callie Khouri and R.J. Cutler. Britton, who migrated from her Emmy-nominated role on "Friday Evening Lights" to FX's "American Horror Story" this past year, will have a rustic singer whose career is within risk. Hayden Panettiere ("Heroes") was cast a week ago like a singing star increasing. The ensemble for "Nashville" includes Forces Boothe, Clare Bowen, Eric Close, Mike Palladio, Jonathan Jackson and Robert Knowledge. ABC Galleries and Lionsgate are creating. Steve Buchanan will even professional produce. Contact Jon Weisman at jon.weisman@variety.com

Dr. Seuss The Lorax $70+M: Years Greatest

Up-to-date… SATURDAY PM… Abbreviated Weekend Results: Clearly huge pent-up interest in a genuine children’s classic, an ‘A’ CinemaScore, along with an overheated box office incorporated for any monster hit. Rival studioshave Universal’s The Loraxlunging past$70M having a shot at $73M and even perhaps $75M. It’s the greatest grossing film ever from the Dr Seuss book, along with the greatest opener of 2012, the fourth greatest March opener, the eighth greatest animated PG film, and also the fifth greatest animated three dimensional film. The $70M-budget toon from Chris Meledandri’s Illumination Entertainment (Wretched Me, Hop) is also the eighth greatest Universal opener ever. And don't forget: the following animated kid film isn’t until April 27th. Yowza! Warner Bros also had mega-success using its low-budget found footage R-ranked opener Project X which hit $20+M. Best Picture Oscar champion The Artist in the Weinstein Co creeps in to the Top Ten for its15th week in release because of 790 additional locationss. Overallweekend bizis up for that ninth weekend consecutively this year: +28% over this past year.And can next weekendrequireme toautopsy reportJohn Carter? 1. The Lorax (Universal) NEW [3,729 Theaters] Friday $17.4M, Saturday $32M, Weekend $73M 2. Project X (Warner Bros) NEW [3,055 Theaters] Friday $8.1M, Saturday $7.9M, Weekend $20.5M 3. Act of Valor (Relativity) Week 2 [3,093 Theaters] Friday $3.8M, Saturday $6.4M, Weekend$14.2M, Cume$45.6M 4. Safe House (Universal) Week 4 [2,553 Theaters] Friday $1.9M, Saturday $3.6M,Weekend $7.7M, Cume $108.8M 5. Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds (Lionsgate) Week2 [2,132 Theaters] Friday $1.8M, Saturday $3.4M,Weekend $7.0M, Cume $26.0M 6. Journey 2 (Warner Bros) Week 4 [3,060 Theaters] Friday $1.3M, Saturday $3.4M, Weekend $7.0M, Cume $85.5M 7. The Vow (Screen Gems/The new sony) Week4 [2,826 Theaters] Friday $1.8M, Saturday $2.8M,Weekend $6.2M,Cume $111.5M 8. What This Means Is War (Fox) Week 3 [2,342 Theaters] Friday $1.6M, Saturday $2.8M, Weekend $6.0M, Cume $41.8M 9. Ghost Driver 2 (The new sony) Week3 [2,487 Theaters[] Friday $1.1M, Saturday $2.3M, Weekend $5.0M,Cume $45M 10. The Artist (Weinstein) Week 15 [1,756 theaters] Friday $938K, Saturday $1.8M, Weekend $4.0M, Cume $37.2M

Terence Davies adapting 'Sorrows'

Davies 'Mother of Sorrows'British auteur Terence Davies is developing a feature based on "Mother of Sorrows," the prize-winning 2005 debut novel by American Richard McCann.Davies is concentrating on the project with Leopardrama, the fiction arm located in london and NY-based production group Argonon. They have development funding within the EU's Media program."Mother of Sorrows" includes 10 connected tales about two teenage brothers and sisters dealing with the dying from the father as well as the influence from the strong, complex mother. The novel won the John C. Zacharis First Book Award and was nominated for your Stonewall Book Award for gay fiction."It becomes an important story because it touches the humanity in many people,Inch Davies mentioned. "I like the delicacy in the book which is gentle journey from publish-World war ii optimism for your American Paradise with a much much deeper understanding of both maternal and filial love plus an acceptance of mortality by quitting for the light."Davies most recently directed 19 fifties-set melodrama "The Dark Blue Sea," starring Rachel Weisz, which is next set to shoot his extended-anticipated adaptation of classic Scottish novel "Sunset Song," put together by Lewis Grassic Gibbon in 1932.His last film shot inside the U.S. was "The Neon Bible" in 1995, though more youthful crowd modified Edith Wharton's novel "Home of Mirth" in 2000, using Glasgow for NY.Leopardrama, headed by Joey Attawia, Jez Swimer and David Chikwe, co-produced low-budget Brit thriller "The Holding" a year ago making "An Englishman in NY," starring John Hurt, last season.Father or mother company Argonon has furthermore introduced that it's 3d film of Matthew Bourne's output of the ballet "Swan Lake," that's due in U.K. cinemas this year, remains acquired by specialist arts distrib More2Screen for release in than 600 theaters worldwide. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Drac Attack! Sony Pictures Buys Period Bloodsucker Pitch From Jason Keller

EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures has acquired a pitch from scribe Jason Keller for a period origin story on the Dracula mythology that will be produced by Joe Roth and Palak Patel. I’m hearing the deal was high six figures against seven-figures. It becomes the latest in a growing list of films about the iconic vampire borne out of the legend of Vlad the Impaler. There is also a new version of Dracula Year Zero that has risen from the grave with Gary Shore directing, Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless writing and Moneyball‘s Mike De Luca producing. There is also an apocalyptic contemporary project coagulating that’s based on the book trilogy by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan that concluded with the recently released The Night Eternal, which Del Toro will set up when he completes Pacific Rim. And Keller himself is attached to another contemporary vampire film, adapting the Justin Cronin novel The Passage for Matt Reeves, in which government experiments on terminally ill people launches a plague of vampires. Insiders at Sony would only say the intention is to launch a period franchise. The deal brings together the combatants in the race to launch a Snow White film. Keller most recently scripted Relativity Media’s Mirror Mirror, and Roth and Patel produced Snow White and the Huntsman for Universal. Roth has been revived as a producer making iconic properties in the public domain. Aside from Alice in Wonderland and Snow White and the Huntsman, he’s producing Oz: The Great and Powerful; Maleficent with Robert Stromberg directing and Angelina Jolie starring; and the Channing Tatum-attached Peter Pan Begins. Keller also scripted Machine Gun Preacher and rewrote the upcoming Sylvester Stallone-Arnold Schwarzenegger pic The Tomb. He also scripted Go Like Hell for Fox, the battle for 60s muscle car supremacy between Ford and Ferrari that has Michael Mann attached to direct. Keller’s repped by CAA and Management 360.

Academy awards: Global media descends on Hollywood

The 84th Oscars are held in the Hollywood and Highland Center in the middle of Hollywood.Reporters James Li and Maggie Wang in the China Movie Funnel.Officials in the Military Network, above, around the red-colored carpet at Hollywood & Highland.It's three hrs and counting before the red-colored carpet outdoors the Hollywood and Highland Center is hit with ''the swarm,'' within the words of 1 cameraman busily planning the most popular couple of hrs of the season for showbiz journos.An worldwide stew of languages could be heard by early-coming reporters walking around the red-colored carpet. TV deck hands from timezones around the world are delivering live shots and hosts are preparing for chaos by studying notes with factoids concerning the various nominees -- and also the names of the significant others.One outlet that features the among the greatest auds for that Academy awards is China Movie Funnel, which reaches some 700 million homes around the landmass. Reporters James Li and Maggie Wang the Academy awards is of course certainly one of their greatest occasions of the season. Wang notes they keep your red-colored carpet coverage centered on ''the films themselves'' instead of fashion and superstar gossip.Another number of reporters drawing attention may be the uniformed trio from Military Network, who've been high-fiving the active servicemembers who're right in front row from the fan bleacher seats.

A 'Wicked' good holiday session

'Wicked' came close to the $2 million mark that Broadway usually achieves only on major holidays such as Thanksgiving. Broadway perked up for Presidents Day, with the long weekend's spike in tourist traffic pushing B.O. up by almost 30% in Week 38 (Feb. 13-19) compared with the prior frame.Also adding to the pot were two new offerings, including "Death of a Salesman" ($613,569 for six previews), the Philip Seymour Hoffman starrer that pulled in solid numbers for a first week and played to auds that approached 90% of capacity. The brief run of solo outing "Shatner's World: We Just Live in It" ($305,705 for six) played two previews and four regular perfs, including opening. Except for "The Book of Mormon" ($1,473,606), which held steady, every production on the boards reported gains, many of them significant.The heftiest chunk of change, of course, was pulled in at the top-ticket hits, including "Wicked" ($1,903,024), "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" ($1,709,139) and "The Lion King" ($1,665,141), which climbed by more than $300,000 each. Buoyed in part by the increasing prevalence of premium pricing as well as Broadway's consistently rising ticket prices across the board, "Wicked" came within spitting distance of the $2 million mark, an achievement that a few years ago, used to be reserved for B.O.-busting major holidays such as Thanksgiving.Overall Rialto cume climbed $4.4 million to $20.1 million for the 26 shows on the boards. Attendance was up by 35,000 to almost 210,000, or about 85% of overall capacity.The 17 musicals grossed $16,138,494 for 80.4% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 162,575 and an average paid admission of $99.27.The nine plays grossed $3,932,703 for 19.6% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 47,366 and an average paid admission of $83.03. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com