Entertainment News Roundup: Taylor Swift beats Beatles in race to 12th UK number one album; K-Pop group ITZY showcases individuality on second world tour and more | Entertainment

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Taylor Swift beats Beatles in race to 12th UK number one album

Taylor Swift topped the British music charts on Friday with “The Tortured Poets Department”, outselling the rest of the top ten combined and beating the Beatles for the record of fastest artist to rack up 12 UK number one albums. “Poets” delivered the biggest opening week for an album in the UK in seven years, and means Swift ties Madonna for female artist with the most UK no. 1 albums in Official Albums Chart history.

K-pop giant HYBE shares take another hit as dispute with NewJeans label drags on

A South Korean music executive credited with creating popular K-pop group NewJeans denied allegations that she was trying to break her label away from HYBE, home to global sensation BTS, sending the K-pop giant’s shares tumbling on Friday. The internal dispute at HYBE, South Korea’s biggest music firm, has wiped over 12% off its share price since it became public on Monday and put a damper on expectations for an upturn from new releases by NewJeans, as well as the return of some BTS members from mandatory military service.

Pet Shop Boys say new album Nonetheless ‘one of our most melodic’

British electro-pop duo Pet Shop Boys say their new album “Nonetheless” is one of their most melodic from their four-decade-long career, featuring songs about solitude, freedom and looking for a new bohemia. The record, out on Friday, is the 15th studio album by the duo – singer Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe – and was written during the various COVID-19 lockdowns.

Zendaya’s tennis movie, ‘Challengers,’ tests friendship bonds of complex trio

When Zendaya first read the script for director Luca Guadagnino’s romantic sports film “Challengers,” she immediately understood that the tennis player turned coach she would portray was unapologetic about her own power and how she wielded it. “I also think that she isn’t immediately dislikable, and she isn’t perfect, and she isn’t trying to be and we’re not making any excuses for that either,” Zendaya said about her character, Tashi Duncan.

Roku’s warning on ad-supported streaming competition clouds upbeat earnings

Roku warned that a push by streaming rivals towards ad-supported offerings could weigh on its growth this year, taking the shine off its strong quarterly results and sending its shares down nearly 3% in extended trading on Thursday. Roku, which sells streaming devices and has its own free, ad-supported channel, has seen more people turn to its platform as major streamers such as Netflix increased prices and economic uncertainty pressured consumer spending.

K-Pop group ITZY showcases individuality on second world tour

Members of the K-pop supergroup ITZY are looking to show a new side of themselves as the band takes its “Born to Be” tour to fans around the world. The tour, which sees the girl band perform in 18 countries across Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Europe, and North America this year, takes its name from the group’s third studio album, released in January.

‘Taylor Swift Act’ and other efforts target sky-high concert ticket prices

The Taylor Swift concert ticket debacle two years ago is leading state and federal lawmakers to take aim at sales practices that they say are deceptive or predatory to music fans. A main goal of venues and musicians is to outlaw speculative sales when a seller offers a ticket they do not yet have. In some cases, they ask thousands of dollars for a ticket that they can buy later from the primary seller for $200 or less and reap the profit.

‘Planet of the Apes’ franchise looks to the future with new film ‘Kingdom’

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”, the latest installment in the sci-fi franchise, is both a sequel and a prequel, its director, Wes Ball, says. The action-adventure is the tenth “Planet of the Apes” movie and follows the reboot trilogy, which debuted in 2011 with “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and includes the 2014 film “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” and 2017’s “War for the Planet of the Apes”.

Amazon Prime Video to exclusively stream two NHL seasons in Canada

National Hockey League (NHL) and its digital broadcast rights owner Rogers Communications on Thursday signed a deal to stream the hockey tournament’s next two seasons exclusively on Amazon.com’s Prime Video for Canadian audiences. Amazon Prime subscribers in Canada will be able to access the broadcasts along with match analyses and coverage, according to a joint statement by Rogers and the NHL.

(With inputs from agencies.)