International
Thor rules international box-office
MUMBAI: Paramount‘s Thor has claimed the weekend‘s No. 1 box-office spot on the international circuit with a gross of $83 million from about 7,250 locations in 56 overseas markets. This the year’s biggest opening weekend tally.
Director Kenneth Branagh‘s interpretation of a Stan Lee comic book opened at top spot in the UK and Ireland ($9 million from 500 situations over five days), in France ($8.1 million from 579 locales), South Korea ($5.7 million from 513 theatres), Italy ($5.5 million from 455 locations) and Spain ($5 million from 377 situations).
The film also recorded first-place openings in several smaller markets, including Taiwan ($2.1 million from 58 sites for a per-screen average of $36,206), Singapore and the Philippines. In Vietnam, the opener yielded $308,000 from 19 sites, which Paramount said was a three-day debut record for the market.
Universal‘s Fast Five, which also opened overseas last weekend (in the UK, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand) drew $45.3 million from 3,211 theatres in 14 territories taking its early foreign gross total to $81.4 million.
The film ranked No. 2 on the weekend overseas; in the U.S. and Canada opened at No. 1 on the weekend. Worldwide, the fifth sequel in the turbocharged car action franchise grossed $128.9 million.
The action film grabbed No. 1 slots in each of its 10 new overseas markets with Russia topping the pack with $11.5 million drawn from 712 sites. Other No. 1 debuts included Germany ($10.2 million from 633 spots), Austria ($1.4 million from 82 situations) and Turkey ($900,000 from 175 venues and Australia where it was on top with $4.7 million from 230 sites.
Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox‘s Rio slid to the fourth position in the weekend‘s No. 3 spot with $31.7 million 10,560 locations in 67 markets. And Fox‘s Water for Elephants picked up its box-office pace offshore with a $4.7 million weekend at 1,851 screens in 23 markets.
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.
