International
Inception clings on to top spot in 2nd week
MUMBAI: Down by a mere 15 per cent on the weekend, Warner Bros‘ Inception stuck to its top spot for the second consecutive week grossing $46.6 million from about 8,000 screens in 58 destinations.
Over a month, Christopher Nolan‘s sci-fi thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio drew a total foreign box-office revenue of $250 million, with $ 39.4 million from UK, $ 23.7 million from Japan,$ 4.5 million from 491 sites in Spain in the opening week and $ 2 million in Brazil from 312 locations.
Step Up 3D the third installment of the urban dance franchise released by Summit International and Universal Studios overseas played at 1,606 sites in 11 markets for an opening gross of $12.3 million.
Universal handled the Step Up 3D premieres in the UK with a gross of $3.2 million from 574 locations, in Australia it grossed $3 million from 288 spots and in New Zealand it roped in $312,000 from 57 sites.
Meanwhile, the weekend‘s No. 2 title, Pixar/Disney‘s Toy Story 3 in 3D drew $29.4 million in its latest round on the overseas circuit at 7,928 screens in 49 markets pushing its total foreign gross to $498.7 million.
No. 3 on the weekend, Sony‘s Salt opened at No. 1 in Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines and drew $16.9 million from 3,517 screens in 39 markets. The Cold War thriller starring Angelina Jolie made a total of $62.8 million since its foreign opening on 21 July.
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.
