International
‘Harry Potter’ sets new box-office record
MUMBAI: The latest ‘Harry Potter‘ film set a new box-office record worldwide in its opening week, grossing nearly 400 million U.S. dollars in five days since its release, distributor Warner Bros. Pictures said.
Harry Potter
The box-office performance for the new “Harry Potter” film is testament to the staying power of the franchise based on J.K. Rowling‘s novels, whose first movie debuted in 2001, it is said.
“It‘s amazing eight years on, Warner Bros. has a franchise that has to date generated more than 4.6 billion dollars in worldwide box office and is as popular today as it was at the beginning of this journey,” Dergarabedian said.
In North America, the film took in 79.4 million dollars this weekend, pushing its total ticket sales to about 160 million dollars since Wednesday, preliminary weekend box office figures showed Sunday.
Meanwhile, it also took in 237 million overseas since Wednesday in 54 markets, bringing its worldwide total to about 397 million dollars, according to Warner Bros.
Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs was in a distant second place with 17.7 million dollars this weekend in North America. The 20th Century Fox animated movie has earned about 152 million dollars since its release three weeks ago.
DreamWorks‘ Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen comes in third with 13.8 million dollars over the weekend, as the robot action sequel has grossed 364 million dollars in the United States and Canada in four weeks.
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.
