International
Avatar is highest grossing IMAX release globally
MUMBAI: Avatar has become the highest grossing worldwide IMAX release, as the opening day in China combined with global holdovers pushed its box-office tally past the $71million mark set by The Polar Express.
The film grossed approximately $12.7 million over the weekend and boosted the tally to $67 million as Avatar surpassed The Dark Knight‘s $65 million haul to become the highest initial worldwide release.
The Polar Express reached $71 million after several re-releases. However Avatar overtook that figure yesterday and is set to cross $100 million later this month. Initial reports from IMAX said that midnight shows at all 11 Chinese screens were sold out.
Avatar currently stands at $20 million internationally from 71 screens (rising to 82 including China) and $47.1 million from 179 North American screens. The film added $8.7 million domestically over the weekend, accounting for 12 per cent of the total $68.3 million domestic weekend gross from 3 per cent of the screens.
The international take was $4 million and that amount included a record international single day on Saturday of $1.425 million.
In further good news for the company, the extraordinary pace of IMAX ticket sales for Avatar powered IMAX Corporation to its first $100 million global box-office quarter for the period ending 31 December, last year.
The company said this result marked an approximately 225 per cent increase on the fourth quarter from a year before, when global box office amounted to roughly $31 million.
Approximately $54 million of the $100 million came from Avatar in 2009. Gross box office of Hollywood films shown on 230 IMAX screens around the world in 2009 climbed 108 per cent to a record $270 million compared to $130 million in fiscal 2008.
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.
