Unauthorised Beyoncé albums surface

Five years ago, Beyoncé “changed the game with that digital drop”, as she would later describe it, when she released a surprise album on December 13, 2013. On Thursday night, fans wondered if history was repeating itself when two 10-track projects accredited to Queen Carter — titled Have Your Way and Back Up, Rewind — appeared on Spotify and Apple Music. They were, however, swiftly removed — apparently unauthorised leaks appearing to compile old songs and unreleased demos. Representatives for Beyoncé and Spotify offered no comment. The Guardian has contacted Apple Music.

One song, Hey Goldmember, is taken from the singer’s film debut in Austin Powers in Goldmember, released in 2002 — and presumably, not material that Beyoncé, now critically acclaimed for her 2013 self-titled album and 2016’s Lemonade, would be keen to revisit. In June this year, Beyoncé and husband Jay-Z, billed as the Carters, released a surprise album, Everything Is Love. Beyoncé was not the only musician affected by an unauthorised leak to streaming services yesterday. An album titled Comethru, credited to Sister Solana, was attributed to Grammy-nominated R&B singer SZA. She addressed the swiftly removed leak in an Instagram story: “These are random scratches from 2015. Def not new new! But … creative? And Scary?” In November, unreleased and obscure music by Ariana Grande appeared on Spotify credited to the name Zandhr.

Aquaman sinks Spider-Man at BO

Warner Bros proclaimed Aquaman “king of the box office as well as the seven seas”, as its oceanic superhero ended the two-week reign of Ralph Breaks the Internet at the top of the UK box office, taking £5.23m, including previews. However, Aquaman delivered only the 16th-biggest opening of 2018; strip out the previews and it achieved £3.82m. Excluding previews from the totals for all films, Aquaman delivered the year’s 19th-biggest debut. For comparison with other DC Films titles, Justice League began in November 2017 with £7.26m (no previews), while, five months earlier, Wonder Woman kicked off with £4.96m (£6.18m including previews). Globally, Aquaman stands at a decent $266m, and with North America yet to open.

With £2.28m including previews, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse lands in second place. However, that number is inflated by significant previews — strip them out and the superhero animation achieved £1.24m.

In addition to Spider-Verse and Ralph Breaks the Internet, the third animation in the Top 5 is The Grinch. Its festive hook meant it saw only a modest decline, down just 13 per cent, and it now stands at a handy £21.7m. Audiences will be aiming to catch this one in the runup to Christmas Day, rather than afterwards. Ralph and Spider-Verse should enjoy longer playability into January.

Sylvia paintings acquired by Tate

Four watercolours of working women by the suffragette and human rights campaigner Sylvia Pankhurst have been acquired by Tate using funds from the billionaire Denise Coates. The paintings show women at work in the cotton mills of Glasgow and the potteries of Staffordshire, and are part of a series that

Pankhurst made as she toured industrial working environments in 1907. They have been acquired directly from the Pankhurst family for an undisclosed sum. Funds have come from the Denise Coates Foundation, a charity set up by the founder and chief executive of the Stoke-on-Trent-based online betting firm Bet365. Last month Coates was revealed to be the world’s best-paid female executive, with an annual pay packet of £265m.

Helen Pankhurst, Sylvia’s granddaughter, said the family was delighted that Tate had acquired some of the paintings. “Sylvia was an artist as well as a champion of working women’s rights, her first passion not as well known as her second. In these beautiful pieces these interests are powerfully combined.”