Entertainment News Roundup: Swedish film festival to screen on remote island for audience of one; Spotify launches music streaming service in South Korea and more

The Swedish music streaming giant is currently present in over 90 countries and has entered into several new markets in the last two years including Russia, India and the Middle East. The new series for the Disney+ streaming service will be created as part of a five-year television deal with Coogler's Proximity Media production company, Disney said in a statement.

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Swedish film festival to screen on remote island for audience of one

Scandinavia's biggest film festival is going ahead this year despite the coronavirus pandemic, but will be hosted on an isolated island and admit only one attendee - a healthcare worker, selected from 12,000 applicants. Swedish nurse and film fan Lisa Enroth was chosen to be the 2021 Gothenburg Film Festival's castaway who will spend a week on the remote island of Pater Noster watching film after film.

Spotify launches music streaming service in South Korea

Spotify Technology SA on Tuesday made a long-awaited debut in South Korea, the sixth largest music market in the world and home to the K-pop music genre. The Swedish music streaming giant is currently present in over 90 countries and has entered into several new markets in the last two years including Russia, India and the Middle East.

'Black Panther' director developing Wakanda TV series for Disney+

"Black Panther" director and co-writer Ryan Coogler is developing a streaming television series set in the movie's fictional futuristic kingdom of Wakanda, Walt Disney Co said on Monday. The new series for the Disney+ streaming service will be created as part of a five-year television deal with Coogler's Proximity Media production company, Disney said in a statement.

South Korean AI technology brings back folk singer's voice

Even though South Korean folk rock singer Kim Kwang-seok has been dead for nearly 25 years, his fans will be able to hear him perform a new song cover on Friday thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) technology used to recreate his voice. The voice AI system - Singing Voice Synthesis (SVS) - learned 20 songs of Kim based on training tool with over 700 Korean songs to improve accuracy, so that the system can mimic a new song in Kim's own style, according to the AI company Supertone which recreated the dead singer's voice.

Denzel Washington's 'The Little Things' Leads Box Office Despite HBO Max Debut

Would audiences pay to see a new movie on the big screen if they could watch the same title at home from the comfort of their couch? Prior to the pandemic, the response from theater operators and cinema purists would have been a resounding "no." Yet Hollywood is finding that, at least while a plague of Biblical proportion rages, the answer is: sorta.

Marilyn Manson dropped by record label after abuse allegations Rock singer Marilyn Manson was dropped by his record label on Monday after "Westworld" TV and film actress Evan Rachel Wood said that he "horrifically abused me for years." Wood, 33, who dated Manson, 52, from around 2007 and was briefly engaged to him in 2010, made the accusation in an Instagram post.

Tony Bennett made new album with Lady Gaga after Alzheimer's diagnosis The family of Tony Bennett has revealed that the legendary singer has been suffering from Alzheimer's disease, breaking their silence on his condition four years after he was diagnosed. His wife, Susan, told AARP Magazine in an interview published on Monday that the 94-year-old singer, best known for the ballad "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," had been losing his ability to make decisions.

(With inputs from agencies.)