ABC & BBC Attached To Aussie Spin-Off Of ‘Death In Paradise’; Canal+ Boards German Drama; New Asian Series Unveiled at TCCF; Monumental Options Amanda Craig Book — Global Briefs

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic You won’t even have to already love Wilco to find joy in the experience of reading Jeff Tweedy’s new book, “World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music” — although nothing about coming in as a fan will exactly hurt. His tales about how dozens of pieces of (mostly) pop and rock music have hit him in a personal way over the decades is full of anecdotal pleasures that get at more universal truths about how we’re shaped by art… or, alternately, just illustrate a funny story Tweedy neglected to include in his previous books, the music memoir “Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back)” and the instructional “How to Write One Song.” The book includes his thoughts on youthful favorites he remains unabashed about into his adulthood, like “Smoke on the Water,” “Takin’ Care of Business” and “My Sharona,” adult fare that rewarded more mature readings, like Randy Newman’s “In Germany Before the War,” and songs as disparate as the Replacements’ “God Damn Job,” Wings’ “Mull of Kintyre,” Rosalia’s “Bizcochito” and “You Are My Sunshine.” Variety caught up with Tweedy on the road between stops on Wilco’s fall tour supporting the band’s recent “Cousin” album, following a solo tour in the summer of 2023.

The bumbling cops at the center of Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clement‘s comedy Wellington Paranormal are to present a podcast about the series.

As a recent new grandfather, Mads Mikkelsen couldn’t be happier, but he doesn’t smile much in his new movie. An earthy 18th-century period piece, The Promised Land sees the Dane play a hard-up veteran, Ludvig Kahlen, who is determined to turn the blasted heaths of Jutland into a thriving farmland. It’s a Western of sorts, which becomes noticeably clearer when Kahlen starts to cross swords with a competing local landowner, but, for Mikkelsen, it’s a subversive  alpha male story of the kind he does so well, from the brutal Viking fantasy Valhalla Rising to the white-cold survival drama Arctic.

BTS and Disney+ have announced BTS Monuments: Beyond The Star, a brand-new docu-series featuring the K-pop boyband.BTS Monuments: Beyond The Star will “take audiences on an in-depth journey across the band’s 10-year career, highlighting their highs and lows” over eight episodes through the docu-series format, according to a Disney+ press release.The series is said to feature “never-before-seen interviews, performances and behind-the-scenes moments” with the K-pop boyband, as well as appearances from HYBE founder Bang Si-Hyuk and Myeongseok Kang, the co-author of Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS. “The upcoming docuseries also shines a spotlight on highly personal moments from their past, including how they felt about meeting each other for the first time; their initial contract renewal process; the difficulties of isolating during COVID,” reads the press release.BTS Monuments: Beyond The Star will premiere December 20 on Disney+ with its first two episodes, with two new episodes released every Wednesday thereafter.The upcoming docu-series will also be the latest collaboration between Disney+ and BTS. The streaming service previously premiered J-hope in the Box, SUGA: Road to D-Day, the concert film BTS: Permission to Dance on Stage – LA and more.In other BTS news, Jungkook has opened up about the boyband’s early days and why he still “can’t watch the footage” from their debut, saying they were “not that cool”.

England travel to North Macedonia this evening, safe in the knowledge that they have secured qualification to next summer's European Championships in Germany.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Veteran actor Ciaran Hinds and Odessa Young have joined Euphoria star Jacob Elordi in the cast of premium Australian miniseries “The Narrow Road to the Deep North.” Production is now under way. An adaptation of the Booker Prize-winning novel by Richard Flanaghan, the five-part series is love story set against the backdrop of World War II. Production is by Curio Pictures with Prime Video releasing the title in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Mary and George, which stars Julianne Moore and Nicholas Galitzine, has a new U.S. home.

NCIS: Sydney is premiering tonight (November 14)!

Naman Ramachandran Gains made from streamer Joyn have offset the continuing decline in TV advertising in the German-speaking region at media giant ProSiebenSat.1. Quarterly results published on Tuesday reveal that group revenues are relatively stable with a 3% decline in the third quarter of 2023 to €888 million ($950 million) compared to €911 million ($974 million) in the previous year. The numbers are a marginal improvement from the second quarter results where the group’s revenues declined from €1.04 billion ($1.14 billion) in 2022 to €868 million ($950 million) this year.

Valerie Wu Intern Apple TV+ has released the official trailer its for nine-episode war drama “Masters of the Air.” Set during World War II, the limited series centers on members of the Air Force fighting against Nazi Germany. “Masters of the Air” stars Oscar nominees Austin Butler (“Elvis”) and Barry Keoghan (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) as fighter pilots Major Gale Cleven and Lt. Curtis Biddick, respectively.

The BBC's smash hit whodunnit set in the sunshine-laden fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie is getting a twist Down Under.

Coleen Rooney is known for keeping her family life private but has now opened up about her marriage to Wayne Rooney in her autobiography, My Account.The Liverpudlian, who is mum to Kai, 13, Klay, 10, Kit, seven, and Cass, five, has opened up about her husband's infidelity and suffering a miscarriage just 10 weeks into her first pregnancy. Coleen is incredibly candid in the book as she also details a "diva" moment from the 2006 World Cup championship in Germany.

“Let’s rack ’em up and knock ’em down.” Those words from Austin Butler‘s Maj. Gale ‘Buck’ Cleven in the opening of the first trailer for Apple TV+’s World War II drama Masters of the Air. The nine-episode limited series hails from Band of Brothers and The Pacific producers Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman. 

Carol Vorderman has become the first presenter to leave a BBC role over its new social media guidelines.

Tess Daly, best known as one half of the presenting duo on Strictly Come Dancing, has been in the public eye since the age of 17. The television presenter, 54, married to Vernon Kay, began her career as a model after she was discovered outside a McDonald's restaurant in Manchester while waiting for her sister.

Bravo is taking advantage of its annual Bravcon event with a slew of reality renewals.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent MK2 Films has boarded Bernhard Wenger’s feature debut, “Peacock,” a tragicomedy headlined by Albrecht Schuch, the German actor who starred in “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “System Crasher.” An up-and-coming Austrian director, Wenger developed the script at the Cannes Film Festival’s Cinefondation residency and was part of Berlinale Talents in 2020. His shorts, including “Keeping Balance,” “Guy Proposes to His Girlfriend on a Mountain” and “Excuse Me, I’m Looking for the Ping-Pong Room and My Girlfriend,” have played at festivals in Chicago, Palm Springs and Nashville, among others.

IMAX is continuing its expansion drive, this time in Australia and Germany via an agreement with Oz-based exhibitor EVT for five new state-of-the-art IMAX with Laser systems in the two markets. Under the deal, EVT will integrate a new IMAX screen in an Event Cinemas location in Sydney, as well as at four CineStar locations in Germany.

BBC Studios Builds Team In Western Europe

EXCLUSIVE: A feature film about the escapades of little-known Canadian spy Winthrop Bell is in development.