How I Met Your Mother: 6 Things to Expect During Sweeps and Beyond!

How I Met Your Mother How I Met Your Mother returns Monday with three weeks of new episodes and they're all bound to be doozies. Why? Remember when Victoria (Ashley Williams) told Ted (Josh Radnor) that living with Robin (Cobie Smulders), aka his ex, was complicating his search for The One? And remember when Ted saw Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) cleaning up the rose petals in Robin's room and kept it to himself? They're both going to come up the next few weeks. "The month of February will answer a lot of questions and sort of resolve a lot of things that have been simmering on the surface," Mother boss Carter Bay says. So what else can we expect? Bays and co-creator/co-executive producer Craig Thomas give us the scoop.How I Met Your Mother boss: There are more twists and turns for Robin1. To live with your ex or not to live with your ex? The bottom line: Victoria was right about Ted and Robin's weird living situation, and her words will come back to haunt him when he brings up Barney's rose petal-cleaning spree and addresses his own unresolved feelings for Robin. "There's going to be some fireworks involved," Thomas teases. The two will also reassess their five-year plans - a callback to their Season 2 breakup. "When Ted and Robin broke up was because they asked 'Where do you see yourself in five years?' Robin thought she was going to be living in Russia or Afghanistan or wherever," Bays says. "It's five years later. We made it. It's just interesting exploring why is it that Robin is still in this apartment exactly where she was when Ted asked that question."2. And what about Robin's other friendly ex? Barney will have his hands full with Quinn (Becki Newton), a blind date who first appears in the Feb. 13 episode and will be sticking around. In the same episode, while on a Valentine's Day getaway, Robin and Kevin (Kal Penn) hit a crossroads in their relationship. "The waters don't run as deep with Kevin as they do with, say, Barney or Ted [for Robin]," Bays says. Is that code for "split"? Even so, with Quinn in the picture, it means Barney and Robin will be on different paths for a little while with Robin focused on her career after coming through in the clutch on World Wide News' New Year's Eve broadcast. "But those two characters and two actors have this huge, crazy chemistry that I can't say that we're done exploring," Thomas says. "They inform each other's lives. Before the series ends, we'll have to address that."3. On the move: Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily (Alyson Hannigan) officially moved to the 'burbs on Long Island last month, but their kitchen table isn't the new MacLaren's booth. "That's not a permanent living arrangement," Thomas says. "It's pretty fun the shifts that happen in terms of where Marshall and Lily end up and how it sets up the next season."Becki Newton suits up for How I Met Your Mother4. Green with envy: Don't worry. Bays and Thomas haven't forgotten about the flash-forward from last season of Ted in a green dress during Lily's pregnancy. That means we will see Ted in a dress before Lily gives birth in the season finale. "I think it's satisfying when we do pay [those things] off," Bays says.5. When will we meet the bride? Barney's bride, that is. Bays and Thomas are still keeping mum on when and how they'll introduce Mrs. Mosby, but, as promised, we will learn the identity of Barney's bride this year - and it'll come at the end of the season. "Fans have always had moments where they fall on one side or the other of some big swing that we've taken, and that will probably happen," Thomas says. "We will answer a big question: Who's Barney marrying? People will have very strong opinions about [who she is]."6. Where's Coco? Last year, Conan O'Brien won a walk-on role on Mother at a charity auction, which hasn't happened... yet. "Keep your eyes peeled because it's gonna come up," Thomas says. "Conan paid good money for this cameo shot and his only caveat is that he doesn't want to be featured at all. So you'll either see him or you won't."How I Met Your Mother airs Mondays at 8/7c on CBS.Additional reporting by Natalie Abrams

Dan Shaner and Michael Testa Set to Cast Nick at Nite Project

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Redbox won't accept Warner Bros. disc delay

'A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas'As expected, Redbox isn't agreeing to Warner Bros.' new 56-day delay to offer new film rentals. Earlier this month, the studio inked a new distribution deal with Netflix, expanding a previous 28-day deal to a longer frame, in exchange for discounts on discs for new releases. However, after lengthy talks between WB and Redbox this month, the companies couldn't come to an agreement over the new demands from the studio. Instead, Redbox has opted to turn to "alternate means" to purchase the films on DVD and Blu-ray it makes available to rent for as low as $1.20 a night through its more than 28,000 kiosks -- and offer them the same day they hit store shelves to buy, according to Redbox senior VP of marketing Gary Cohen. First WB title to bow in kiosks the same day as retail will be "A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas," out Feb. 7. Placed mostly in supermarkets and outside convenience stores, Redbox also said Tuesday that Walmart will continue adding kiosks its 3,700 stores through January 2015. While other studios like Paramount say that making discs available in kiosks at the time of relese doesn't affect disc sales, Warner Bros. has stuck to its guns in believing that longer windows will encourage more people to purchase discs and store them in UltraViolet's cloud-based digital lockers or rent them on VOD. Although Blu-ray sales are increasing, they haven't made up for declining DVD revenue. Last year, the sale of all discs fell 13%, generating nearly $9 billion, primarily because of slower DVD sales, according to the Digital Entertainment Group. On the rental side, kiosks, operated by Redbox and other vendors, showed the most growth in the rental category, up 31% to collect $1.7 billion in fees, prompting studios to look for ways to grab a larger share of that increased revenue. After Redbox revealed that it has ended talks with Warner Bros., the studio stressed in a statement: "The consumer is best served by a windowing and pricing structure that ensures a healthy film business continuing to deliver quality movies. We hope to continue discussions with Redbox and reach a mutually agreed upon solution to this situation, but we fully intend to do what is best for our business, our consumers and the industry as a whole." Since the delay, Warner Bros. has found that the 28-day window has also helped boost sales for DVDs and Blu-rays by as much as 32% at retailers like Best Buy, especially during the first four weeks after they go on sale. During this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Warner Home Video North America prexy Mark Horak said, "Since we implemented a 28-day window for subscription and kiosk, we have seen very positive results with regard to our sell-through business. One of the key initiatives for Warner Bros. is to improve the value of ownership for the consumer and the extension of the rental window -- along with our support of UltraViolet -- is an important piece of that strategy." Redbox will now begin talks with Universal over the renewal of its own terms with that studio (a 28-day delay), which expires in April. Contact Marc Graser at marc.graser@variety.com

IFC on buy spree at fest

'The Pact'IFC Films roared into action as Sundance wound lower, closing in around the quartet of purchases on Wednesday and Thursday. The distrib acquired comedy "Liberal Arts," horror pic "The Pact" due to its Evening time division helping docu "The best way to Survive a Plague" due to its Sundance Selects label and was closing in on mental drama "Simon Killer." IFC acquired U . s . States rights to author-director-producer Josh Radnor's "Liberal Arts," which was produced by financier BCDF Pictures partners Brice Dal Farra, Claude Dal Farra and Lauren Munsch, additionally to Jesse Hara of Tom Sawyer Entertainment, the management and production company he runs with Rachel Burns. "The Way In Which I Met Your Mother" star Radnor, whose "happythankyoumoreplease" carried out Sundance this season, stars just like a lately single guy who returns to his alma mater for his favorite professor's retirement dinner. Elizabeth Olsen co-stars alongside Richard Jenkins, Allison Janney, John Magaro and "Twilight" thesp Elizabeth Reaser. Deal for your film was talked about by Arianna Bocco, senior V . p . of purchases and productions for Sundance Selects/IFC Films, while using Gersh Agency settling regarding the filmmakers. The distrib may also be in final discussions to obtain author-director Antonio Campos' "Simon Killer" for mid-six figures. Matt Palmieri funded the pic through his FilmHaven Entertainment and produced with Campos' Borderline Films partners Josh Mond and Sean Durkin. Tune Roscher co-produced. While sources caution that no deal has closed, IFC Films distributed Campos' first film, "Afterschool." "Simon Killer" stars Brady Corbet just like a recent college graduate who visits Paris and falls deeply deeply in love with a mysterious youthful prostitute. CAA and UTA are settling the sale regarding the filmmakers, as UTA reps the Borderline trio. Contact Rob Sneider at rob.sneider@variety.com

John Levy dies at 99

John Levy, the first prominent African-American personal manager in the jazz or pop music field, whose clients included Nancy Wilson and Ramsey Lewis, died Friday in his sleep at his home in Altadena, Calif., less than three months before his 100th birthday.An accomplished bassist, the New Orleans-born Levy performed with such jazz greats as Stuff Smith, Billie Holiday, Erroll Garner and Billy Taylor in the 1940s before joining pianist George Shearing's original quintet. In the early 1950s, he became Shearing's full-time manager and later went on to form his own management agency, John Levy Enterprises.Levy's client roster over the years included more than 85 artists, including Wilson, Lewis, Nat and Cannonball Adderley, Betty Carter, Roberta Flack, Herbie Hancock, Shirley Horn, Freddie Hubbard, Ahmad Jamal and Abbey Lincoln as well as comedian Arsenio Hall.In 2006, the National Endowment for the Arts recognized Levy as a Jazz Master, the nation's highest jazz honor.He is survived by his wife, Devra Hall Levy. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

'Awakening' should top B.O.'s wide quartet

Overall domestic box office should continue its 6% lead over this time around around a year ago, because the new the new sony-Screen Gems' fourth "Underworld" installment, "Awakening," is predicted to achieve getting a bow inside the mid-$20 million range a couple of days ago. Yet another troupe of wide players -- Warner Bros.' "Very Noisy and very Close," last century Fox's "Red-colored-colored Tails" and Relativity Media's "Haywire" -- should help January's solid totals. According to some B.O. experts, "Very Noisy," growing to 2,630 locations within the fifth frame, and "Red-colored-colored Tails" may be close just north of $millions of each through Sunday. Fox, however, needs an even more modest bow for "Red-colored-colored Tails" inside the high single-amounts -- such as the total expected for "Haywire." Warners has held "Very Noisy" at six locations since bowing the film on Christmas Day. Pic's domestic cume stands at $681,000 for just about any per-screen average of $113,500. Also competing for your weekend's top-five positioning: repeat players "Contraband" and "Beauty as well as the Animal" in 3d. Both films received favorable exit poll ratings a week ago, which indicate potentially strong soph-sesh perfs. "Contraband" has cumed $32.3 million Stateside through Wednesday while "Beauty" has raked in $24 million in your area. Other game game titles growing are the Weinstein Co.'s Golden Globe-winning pair "The Iron Lady" and "The Artist." The prior, with $8.4 million after 72 hours, adds almost 275 U.S. locations for just about any total 1,076, while "The Artist," with nearly $millions of in your area, increases within the ninth frame to 662 engagements. Overseas, Warner Bros.' two-week champion "An Online Detective: A Game Title Title of Shadows" could fall to "Awakening," which bows day-and-date in 35 areas. (The brand new the new sony has all worldwide rights, except inside the U.K. and France.) "Underworld: Awakening," which marks the return of star Kate Beckinsale for the vampire franchise, may also be the series' first 3d installment. "Awakening" bows at 3,078 total playdates, which 2,545 are 3d, including 254 Imax locations. The series' fourth installment set you back a reported $70 million, however the new the new sony mentioned it hopes "Awakening," with Beckinsale back plus an added boost from 3d, can grow more effective legs than its three forerunners. The Three prior obligations all cumed in your area a maximum of two and a half occasions their opening -- a typical multiple for similar genre photos. The second "Underworld" film, "Evolution," acquired the franchise's best debut at $26.9 million in 2006, the 2003 original released a dent or dimple of $21.8 million, and "Rise in the Lycans" plastic box $20.8 million. "Awakening" is predicted to see easier to teens. Fox's "Red-colored-colored Tails," meanwhile, will open to a largely African-American male audience, in line with the studio, though that could expand. Fully funded by Lucasfilm for roughly $58 million, "Red-colored-colored Tails" notifies the story in the Tuskegee Airmen, the initial African-American aircraft aircraft pilots to fly combat missions throughout Second world war. Ensembler features Cuba Gooding Junior., Kevin Phillips and Terrence Howard. Fox mentioned the film's PG-13 rating should permit some interest by family audiences. According to online ticketing site Fandango, "Red-colored-colored Tails" was leading Thursday's ticket sales, with 27%, outpacing both "Underworld" (24%) and "Haywire" (3%). "Haywire," a Relativity project from helmer Steven Soderbergh, cost the studio a reported $23 million. But due to tax savings from Ireland and foreign pre-sales, Relativity could reduce its risk to merely $1.5 million, excluding marketing costs. The film launches day-and-date a couple of days ago via Lionsgate Intl. in seven offshore areas, like the U.K., Russia, Taiwan and India. Worldwide cast is introduced by Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas and Michael Fassbender. Bowing a couple of days ago within the Stateside niche B.O., the Weinsteins' "Coriolanus" opens at nine locations. Fox's Mexican pic "Miss Bala" bows at four. Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com

New trailer lands for American Reunion

For anybody wondering whether American Reunion will have a similar quota of breasts, bums and bodily processes because the existing trilogy, a brand new trailer has showed up to create your minds at relaxation...The most recent footage shows Jim, Finch, Stifler and co. investing a proper period of time by the pool, which obviously is nearly solely populated by pneumatic, bikini-clad blondes.A clip covers a reasonable bit of the identical ground because the previous two, there is however lots of new stuff inside for individuals who can't watch for their next slice of cake. Take a look below...<a href='http://movies.united kingdom.msn.com/trailers-and-clips/?videoid=9317d5a4-9a54-40db-81c8-571b9115df0d&src=v5:embed::' _fcksavedurl='http://movies.united kingdom.msn.com/trailers-and-clips/?videoid=9317d5a4-9a54-40db-81c8-571b9115df0d&src=v5:embed::' target='_new' title='American Cake: Reunion trailer (MSN Exclusive)'>Video: American Cake: Reunion trailer (MSN Exclusive)</a> Regardless of the claims the gang's lives have transformed, it appears such as the reunion has sent them right into a severe condition of regression. Which, to tell the truth, is exactly what i was wishing for really.American Reunion will open within the United kingdom on 6 April 2012. Sufficient time to improve in your Blink-182 then...