Entertainment News Roundup: South Korean boyband BTS cancels October concert over coronavirus; New York's Metropolitan Opera to remain closed for another year and more

Spotify, Hollywood producer Chernin to adapt podcast shows for films, TV Spotify Technology SA has signed a deal with Hollywood production house Chernin Entertainment to adapt the music streaming firm's podcast shows for films and television and sell them to other outlets, the companies said on Thursday.

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

South Korean boyband BTS cancels October concert over coronavirus

K-pop boyband BTS cancelled on Friday a concert set for October in the South Korean capital of Seoul as authorities battle a stream of new coronavirus infections, imposing tougher curbs ahead of a surge in travel during a key autumn holiday. This month, BTS became the first Korean pop act to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts in the United States, with "Dynamite", its first single entirely in English.

South African hit 'Jerusalema' inspires people worldwide to shake off COVID-19 blues

From Sao Paulo to Sweden, thousands of people around the world, including priests, police, ministers and frontline workers, have posted clips of themselves dancing to South African house song "Jerusalema". With confirmed global coronavirus deaths nearing a grim milestone of one million, a vaccine still some time away and lockdowns and social distancing measures to curb the pandemic's spread weighing on public life, the up-tempo gospel groove has provided a moment's relief across borders and language barriers.

U.S. TV shows try a new election playbook: making voting part of the story

From "black-ish" to a "West Wing" reunion, television shows are using the power of entertainment in new ways to encourage more Americans to participate in the Nov. 3 election. Thirty years after "Rock the Vote," a liberal nonprofit group, fused pop culture and politics, TV makers are seeking to make dry topics like registering to vote, filling out the census and finding polling places feel vital and fun by writing them into the plots of popular shows.

New York's Metropolitan Opera to remain closed for another year

New York's famed Metropolitan Opera canceled its entire upcoming season on Wednesday and said it would remain closed until September 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, a sign of the continuing struggles for live entertainment. The 3,800-seat opera house normally stages more than 200 performances each season and welcomes nearly 800,000 visitors, according to its website.

Top Bollywood actors receive summons in Indian drug probe

Some of Bollywood's biggest actors are being questioned in a widening drug probe by federal agencies that has sent shockwaves through India's beleaguered film industry and dominated prime time news headlines. Officials from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) have been investigating alleged drug use in Bollywood for the last month in connection with the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, a popular actor who was found dead at his residence in June.

U.S. senators, citing Uighurs, urge Netflix to drop planned Chinese sci-fi series

Five Republican U.S. senators have urged Netflix Inc to reconsider plans to adapt a Chinese science-fiction book trilogy into a TV series because they said the author has defended the Chinese government's treatment of Uighur Muslims. "The Three-Body Problem" and two sequels were written by Chinese author Liu Cixin. Netflix announced earlier this month that it was turning the books into a live-action, English-language TV series led by D.B Weiss and David Benioff, the creators of HBO megahit "Game of Thrones." Liu serves as a consulting producer on the project.

Fans of boy band BTS join swarm of Ants chasing South Korea's hit IPO

Kim Eun-hee wants to complete her collection of memorabilia of Korean boy band BTS by bidding more than $120,000 to buy shares in the group's music label Big Hit Entertainment in South Korea's hottest IPO, which could even shake money markets. Fervour is building among die-hard South Korean BTS fans to secure at least one share of the K-pop band's label as order books for next month's listing opened this week.

Spotify, Hollywood producer Chernin to adapt podcast shows for films, TV

Spotify Technology SA has signed a deal with Hollywood production house Chernin Entertainment to adapt the music streaming firm's podcast shows for films and television and sell them to other outlets, the companies said on Thursday. The deal would unite Spotify, which has more than 1.5 million podcast titles, with media mogul Rupert Murdoch's former right-hand man and Chernin Entertainment founder Peter Chernin.

Rio de Janeiro samba schools delay 2021 Carnival parade over coronavirus

Samba schools in Rio de Janeiro decided on Thursday to delay Brazil's most famous Carnival parade that would normally have been held in February 2021, as the country grapples with the second-deadliest coronavirus outbreak in the world. Liesa, the independent samba league, did not give a new date for the festival, saying it would depend on a vaccine.

Coming to a cinema near you: the life of UK's Captain Tom

British centenarian and charity star Captain Tom Moore, who raised millions of pounds for the health service by walking laps of his garden during lockdown, has signed a deal to film a biopic of his life, he and the producers said on Wednesday. The film, to be shot next year, will be made by Britain's Fred Films and Powder Keg Pictures, whose credits include "Fisherman's Friends", about a group of Cornish fishermen who signed a record deal, they said in a joint statement.

(With inputs from agencies.)