Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

UB40 founding member Astro dies after short illness

One of the founding members of British reggae band UB40, Terence Wilson, has died after a short illness, his band has announced. Wilson, known by his stage name Astro, left the band in 2013 to perform with breakaway group “UB40 featuring Ali Campbell and Astro”.

Box Office: ‘Eternals’ Reigns Supreme With $71 Million Debut

“Eternals” soared to the top of the weekend box office chart, buoyed by mania for all things Marvel. But its $71 million debut fell just short of projections, which had the superhero film debuting to $75 million. That’s a sign, perhaps, that the iffy reviews muted “Eternals'” results or a signal that the underlying intellectual property, the story of a group of god-like extraterrestrials, didn’t have the resonance of other comic book adaptations. Marvel has successfully introduced lesser-known heroes, such as the Guardians of the Galaxy, to movie fans and spawned successful franchises with them, but that series got a lift from critics and also debuted in a time before anyone had ever heard of COVID. So, a much different world order. “Eternals” still managed to score the fourth-best opening weekend for any movie during the pandemic era, sliding in behind Marvel’s own “Black Widow” ($80.3 million) and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” ($75.3 million) as well as “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” ($90 million), which was made by Sony but based on a Marvel comic creation. It’s an impressive number — and any other studio or feature would be thrilled to have a launch of that size — but for a Marvel venture it’s hard to not view it as falling short of sky-high expectations. Heavy the head that wears the box office crown and all that. Internationally, “Eternals” took in $90.7 million, bringing its global haul to $161.7 million.

It’s ‘Yesterday Once More’ as Richard Carpenter recalls 1970s pop duo

More than 50 years after “We’ve Only Just Begun” and “Yesterday Once More,” Richard Carpenter is looking back on the California soft pop duo with his sister Karen that ruled the charts but got a rough ride from music critics. Now he is telling the story his way for the first time in “Carpenters: The Musical Legacy,” a book based on hundreds of hours of interviews Richard gave to authors Mike Cidoni Lennox and Chris May. Crammed with photos, posters, programs, reviews and work schedules, it is intended as the definitive story of the 1970s recording stars.

Investigators pursue criminal probe into stampede that killed eight at Houston concert

Questions surrounding what went wrong at a Houston music festival were still unanswered on Monday, three days after a crush of concertgoers left eight dead, as investigators pursued a criminal probe and victims filed lawsuits over the tragedy https://www.reuters.com/world/us/investigations-widen-into-deadly-stampede-houston-rap-concert-2021-11-07.

Travis Scott, the hometown star rapper who was performing on stage Friday night when the incident occurred, canceled a scheduled appearance this weekend at Day N Vegas in Las Vegas, a similar outdoor festival, a source close to Scott said.

Alec Baldwin calls for police on film sets to monitor gun safety

As Hollywood considers new safety measures following the fatal shooting during filming of Western movie “Rust,” actor Alec Baldwin said on Monday he believed film and TV productions should hire police officers to monitor weapons on sets. Baldwin accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on Oct. 21 after being told the gun he was rehearsing with on the “Rust” set in New Mexico was “cold,” or safe to use, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.

Probes launched, lawsuit filed in Houston rap festival stampede

At least two investigations and one civil lawsuit were underway on Sunday into the deadly stampede during rap star Travis Scott’s Astroworld music festival that killed at least eight people and injured dozens in Houston. Two of the victims were teenagers, aged 14 and 16, caught in the crushing surge of the crowd as Scott continued to perform, completing his set even after noticing fans were receiving medical treatment. Scott, the headline act and a hometown star who founded the Astroworld festival in 2018, later said he was unaware of the severity of the situation.

‘A self-portrait in songs’: Paul McCartney looks back on his lyrics

From looking for inspiration on the bus to finding titles in dreams, Paul McCartney looks back on his life in a new book recounting how he wrote some of the world’s most famous songs. Described as “a self-portrait in 154 songs”, “The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present” spans McCartney’s eight decades of songwriting – as a teenager, a member of the Beatles, his time with rock band Wings and as a successful solo artist.

Production of Disney’s upcoming ‘Star Wars’ movie delayed

Production of Walt Disney Co’s next “Star Wars” movie has been delayed because director Patty Jenkins is juggling other projects, a source close to the production said on Monday.

“Star Wars: Rogue Squadron” is still currently scheduled to reach theaters in December 2023, the source said, but it is possible that date could change.

(With inputs from agencies.)