Quick Takes: Modigliani sculpture sells for nearly $53 million

A sculpted stone head by artist Amedeo Modigliani sold at Christie’s in Paris on Monday for $52.8 million, breaking the record for a work by the Italian artist, the auction house said.

It was also the highest-priced work sold at an auction in France, Christie’s said. An anonymous buyer bid for the piece by telephone.

The piece, sculpted between 1910 and 1912, depicts an elongated head with almond-shaped eyes and flowing hair, and it is reminiscent of the artist’s paintings.

The painting was part of a collection amassed by Gaston Levy, a French businessman who founded the country’s Monoprix supermarket chain. Levy died in 1977.

—Associated Press

Elton John foe is free to go

Charges have been dropped just before the trial of a Georgia man accused of threatening Elton John on the Internet and outside the singer’s Atlanta condominium.

The case against

Neal Horsley was dismissed by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Esmond Adams before a trial was due to start Monday. The judge said Horsley’s actions didn’t warrant criminal charges.

The 65-year-old Horsley had been charged with making terroristic threats, criminal defamation and using the Internet to disseminate threats.

Prosecutors say Horsley posted threats against John online and that he picketed outside John’s Atlanta property with a sign that said “Why Elton John Must Die.”

—Associated Press

‘Idol’ stalker gets two years

A judge in Los Angeles has sentenced a man charged with stalking Ryan Seacrest to two years in prison.

Chidi Benjamin Uzomah Jr. received the maximum sentence Monday after previously pleading no contest to stalking

the host of “American Idol.”

The 26-year-old Uzomah has been jailed since his arrest in October at the E! Entertainment Television studios, where he tried to reach Seacrest.

Court filings say he was carrying a knife.

Superior Court Judge John S. Fisher rejected a defense request to sentence Uzomah to probation.

—Associated Press

CNN: No King successor yet

Despite several reports that CNN is poised to sign a deal with “America’s Got Talent” judge Piers Morgan to replace Larry King, people inside the network said there is no rush to pick a successor to King, who has another year left on his contract.

“Not surprisingly, there is no shortage of people who would love to succeed Larry King if and when he moves on, but rumors that we are close to signing a deal for a Larry King replacement are untrue,” said a CNN spokeswoman.

The New York Post first reported last week that Morgan, a onetime British tabloid newspaper editor who serves as a judge on “Britain’s Got Talent,” as well as the American version of that show, was in talks with CNN.

Britain’s Daily Telegraph reported that Morgan was close to signing a four-year deal with the network.

—Matea Gold

AMC renews ‘Breaking Bad’

“Breaking Bad,” the AMC drama about a desperate chemistry teacher who turns to a life of crime to secure his family’s financial stability, has been renewed for a fourth season.

Ratings for the drama, which aired its third-season finale Sunday, have grown 20% this season, placing it above “Mad Men” as the most popular series on the cable network.

—Greg Braxton

‘One Day’ to star Hathaway

Anne Hathaway is stepping into a new Cinderella story.

The star of “Ella Enchanted” and “The Princess Diaries” will appear in the film adaptation of David Nicholls’ popular novel “One Day,” about a working-class woman’s romance with a charming rich man.

The movie, which begins filming this summer, will be directed by Lone Scherfig (“An Education”).

The project was announced by Focus Features and Random House Films.

Nicholls has written the script for the film, scheduled to come out next year.

—Associated Press