International
Olympics and shootout effect dwindle audience in theatres
MUMBAI: The combination of the Olympics and the Colorado theatre massacre has had a sizeable impact on weekend box office sales that could end 30 per ccent down from last year.
Twentieth Century Fox‘s high-profile summer comedy The Watch starring Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill and Richard Ayoade opened to a sluggish star with $4.5 million on Friday, well behind the $19 million earned by The Dark Knight Rises on its second Friday. The R-rated film earned a dismal C+ CinemaScore.
The weekend‘s other new entry is Summit Entertainment‘s 3D dance film Step Up Revolution that grossed $4.9 million to beat The Watch. Step Up 4 earned a B+ CinemaScore.
Most box office observers predict that The Watch will pull ahead of Step Up 4 and gross in the vicinity between $13 to $15 million range for the weekend, in comparison to $11 to $12 million for the Summit film.
Heading into the weekend, research firm NRG warned Hollywood studios that 20 to 25 per cent of the movie-going audience were hesitant to see a film this weekend because of the Colorado shooting and the Olympics.
Though by any measure, Dark Knight Rises continues to do good business, but there is no doubt that the film is leaving business on the table because of the shooting during a midnight screening of the film.
Comparing Friday over Friday collection, Dark Knight Rises fell 76 per cent, in line with other films that had sizeable midnight earnings on opening day.
International
Utopai Studios unveils 4K three-minute video generation for PAI platform
New Story Agent and editing tools aim to streamline AI-led filmmaking workflows
MUMBAI: Utopai Studios has announced a major upgrade to its PAI storytelling AI platform, introducing what it claims is an industry-first capability to generate three-minute videos in 4K resolution, alongside enhancements to its Story Agent feature.
The update, rolling out from April 15, expands the platform’s capabilities across the filmmaking process, from early concept development to post-production. The company said the new features are designed to help filmmakers maintain continuity across characters, scenes and visual styles, a key challenge in AI-driven storytelling.
At the heart of the release is a next-generation model that enables more structured narrative development, allowing creators to move more seamlessly from idea to execution. With tools such as multi-shot sequencing and multi-turn editing, the platform aims to give both studios and independent creators greater control over complex storytelling workflows.
Commenting on the launch, Utopai Studios co-founder and CTO Jie Yang said, “The next phase of AI in media will not be defined by isolated tools, but by systems that can carry story, continuity and collaboration across the full creative process.” He added that the update is a step towards enabling more practical, end-to-end narrative development at a professional level.
Echoing this, Utopai Studios co-founder and chief scientific officer Zijian He said, “Generative video is opening the door to a new production model, where creative ambition is less constrained by traditional cost and complexity.” He noted that the platform combines multimodal models with iterative editing to give creators more speed, control and consistency.
The company said PAI is already being used in professional film and television productions, particularly in Hollywood, for tasks such as pre-visualisation, scene design and post-production refinements. The latest update adds features including improved voice options, character consistency, unlimited editing and more flexible asset management.
Utopai also emphasised that its models are not trained on copyrighted material, positioning the platform as a cleaner alternative for creators and rights holders navigating the evolving AI landscape.
As AI continues to reshape content creation, Utopai’s latest push signals a shift from standalone tools to integrated systems, aiming to make high-quality filmmaking faster, more flexible and increasingly accessible.
