The Weeknd has ended Drake's long reign as king of Spotify, with the singer topping the rapper in monthly listeners on the world's leading streaming service. The Weeknd, whose new album <em>Starboy</em> was released on November 25, had close to 37.5 million listeners in November, more than one third of all Spotify users. He edged out Drake, who had just under 36 million monthly listeners. Starboy broke the record for streams in its first week, with listeners playing it 223 million times. Starboy, released just one year after The Weeknd's breakthrough album Beauty Behind the Madness, is a sprawling work of R&B and electronica on which the singer collaborates with elusive French duo Daft Punk. — AFP <strong>Disney’s Moana smashing box office sales</strong> The animated seafaring musical adventure <em>Moana</em> charted a winning course for its second straight weekend, topping the North American box office with an estimated $28.4 million (Dh104,000). The Disney film about a brave Polynesian teenage girl on a risky mission to save her people has raked in $120 million since its opening on Thanksgiving Day. The composers of the film's score include Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway hit <em>Hamilton</em>. The Harry Potter spin-off <em>Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them</em>, remained in second place during its third week in theatres, chalking up $18.5 million for a total of $184 million so far. Based on a 2001 book by Potter novelist J.K. Rowling, the Warner Bros. Film stars Eddie Redmayne as a wizard in 1920s New York. - AFP <strong>Madonna’s daughter aces gymnastics competition </strong> Madonna’s 10-year-old daughter Mercy James has taken home four medals at her gymnastics meet at the weekend. Madonna shared a photo of Mercy on Instagram with the caption: “Mercy James takes home 4 medals!” Madonna, 58, adopted Mercy James in 2009 from Malawi, the same country from which she adopted her son David in 2006. Mercy’s medal win came just two days after Madonna participated in a charity event in Miami, in which she helped raise more than $7.5 million for Malawi. — www.people.com <strong>India’s first underwater film will hit theatres in February</strong> Filmmaker Karan Johar will produce India's first war-at-sea film <em>The Ghazi Attack</em>, featuring actress Taapsee Pannu. Johar tweeted, "Dharma Productions (Johar's production house) is proud to partner with A.A. films for <em>The Ghazi Attack</em> — India's first war-at-sea film! Dharma movies, Rana Daggubati." The film is scheduled to hit theatres February 17, 2017. Pannu, who worked in Telugu language films <em>Jhummandi Naadam, Vastadu Naa Raju</em> and <em>Mr. Perfect</em>, also tweeted: "Finally back on Telugu screens with this special appearance. Proud to be a small part of this big film 'The Ghazi Attack', India's first underwater war film!" -IANS <strong>Gautam Gulati joins cast of upcoming film Behen Hogi Teri </strong> Actor Gautam Gulati has joined Rajkummar Rao and Shruti Haasan in Ajay K. Pannalal’s Behen Hogi Teri. The 29-year-old, who is in Lucknow shooting the film, shared the news on Instagram by thanking filmmaker Tony D’Souza for giving him a chance once again. He posted, “Behen Hogi Teri. Thanks Tony D’Souza. God bless you for always being there for me.” Gulati and D’souza previously worked together on Azhar, where the actor played former Indian cricketer Ravi Shastri. -IANS
