Entertainment News Round-up: British artist Banksy, Montserrat Caballe dies,

Tom Hardy's superhero tale "Venom" grabbed $80 million at 4,250 sites for Sony and Marvel while the Lady Gaga-starring remake of "A Star Is Born" earned an estimated $42.6 million at 3,686 locations for Warner Bros.

 

'We just got Banksy-ed': balloon girl painting self-destructs at sale

A painting by mysterious British artist Banksy shred itself into pieces at the moment it sold for more than 1 million pounds at a London auction on Friday. Onlookers gasped and laughed after the bottom half of "Girl with Balloon", one of Banksy's best-known works, was sucked into a shredder hidden in its frame as the hammer fell, auction house Sotheby's said.

Opera singer Montserrat Caballe dies in Barcelona, aged 85

Montserrat Caballe, who took opera into the pop charts by singing "Barcelona" with Freddie Mercury three decades ago, died aged 85 on Saturday. The Spanish soprano, who was born in the Catalan capital, had been in ill health for a number of years and was admitted to hospital in mid-September, a hospital official said. She died in Sant Pau hospital in Barcelona.

Promise fulfilled 25 years on in TV film 'My Dinner with Herve'

When journalist Sacha Gervasi set out to do an interview with diminutive French actor Herve Villechaize, best known for playing an evil henchman in Bond film "The Man with the Golden Gun," he had no idea that it would become a 25-year mission to get the story published. Now, Gervasi's night-long interview with Villechaize is finally seeing the light of day in HBO film "My Dinner with Herve," with "Game of Thrones" star Peter Dinklage as the 3-foot-11-inch (1.19-meter) tall Villechaize.

Box office: 'Venom' launches to $80 million, 'A Star Is Born' draws $42.6 million

The unlikely dynamic duo of "Venom" and "A Star Is Born" have livened up the fall moviegoing season with the best October weekend of all time in North America. Tom Hardy's superhero tale "Venom" grabbed $80 million at 4,250 sites for Sony and Marvel while the Lady Gaga-starring remake of "A Star Is Born" earned an estimated $42.6 million at 3,686 locations for Warner Bros. -- well above pre-weekend forecasts. "Venom" smashed the record for an October opening, topping the $55.8 million launch of "Gravity" by 43%.

(With inputs from agencies.)