Handler jokes cut to clean up Reese's This Means War

Actress/comedienne Chelsea Handler's bawdy jokes have been cut from pal Reese Witherspoon's new movie in a bid to land the film a PG-13 rating in the U.S.

Movie executives lost an appeal to lower the restrictive age rating of spy comedy This Means War on Thursday (26Jan12) and it was slapped with an R-rating, which prohibits film fans under the age of 18 from seeing the movie without an adult.

But reports suggest officials at the Motion Picture Association ratings board have reconsidered the rating after Fox bosses agreed to cut out Handler's risque gags.

The film, which also stars Chris Pine and Tom Hardy as love rival colleagues, will hit cinemas in April (12).