The daily gossip: Britney Spears' music can repel Somali pirates, and more

1. Britney Spears' music can repel Somali pirates

This month's box-office hit Captain Phillips tells the real-life story of a ship beset by Somali pirates — but if someone had thought to bring along a copy of Oops!…I Did It Again , the conflict might have been resolved a good deal faster. In an interview with Metro, merchant naval officer Rachel Owens revealed that she uses "a blast of Britney" to scare off Somali pirates. "Her songs were chosen by the security team because they thought the pirates would hate them most," explained Owens. "It's so effective the ship's security rarely needs to resort to firing guns" — unless, we assume, they need to hit them one more time. [NBC News]

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2. The Jonas Brothers have officially broken up

On Oct. 29, 2013 — a day that Don McLean surely foresaw when he wrote the lyric "the day the music died" — the Jonas Brothers announced that they would stop recording and performing music together. "It's over for now," said Kevin Jonas in an interview with People. The report adds that the seeds of the break-up were planted on Oct. 3, when Nick Jonas told his brothers that he had unspecified but "serious concerns about the future of the band" — concerns that presumably extended beyond "nobody pays attention to us anymore." [People]

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3. Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard spent $142 on their wedding

Kanye West recently expressed his interest in a wedding ceremony heralded by fighter jets, but some celebrity couples are a little more frugal; in an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday, Dax Shepard revealed that he and bride Kristen Bell spent just $142 on their recent wedding at the Beverly Hills courthouse. Shepard added that he still doesn't have a wedding ring — presumably because he hasn't had time to stop at the local gas station for a roll of tinfoil. [The Hollywood Reporter]

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4. The Walking Dead will return for a fifth season

In an announcement so roundly expected that even its own press release called it "one of the most anticlimactic renewal announcements ever," AMC has renewed its zombie drama The Walking Dead for another season, shorty after a series premiere that turned out to be "the biggest non-sports telecast in cable history." The press release went on to proclaim that water is wet, the sky is blue, and the pope is Catholic. [The Hollywood Reporter]

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5. Men really like dressing up as superheroes

Earlier this week, Fandango released the results of its annual poll of the most popular movie-inspired Halloween costumes — and surprise, surprise, men have once again favored costumes that let them pretend to be hunky demigods. The top three costumes for men this year are Thor, Superman, and Iron Man. The top five is rounded out by Anchorman's Ron Burgundy and Bad Grandpa's Irving Zisman, who admittedly aren't superheroes — but hey, you never know who might turn up in The Avengers sequel. [Entertainment Weekly]