International
Toy Story on top again in overseas markets
MUMBAI: Pushing its overseas gross total to $351 million, Pixar/Disney‘s Toy Story 3 roped in $62 million in the last weekend from 3,897 screens in 43 locations.
Following Toy Story, was Warner Bros.‘ Inception which drew $56.7 million from 5,840 venues in 38 territories. Director Christopher Nolan‘s sci-fi-thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio had No. 1 debuts in Japan ($8.9 million from 523 screens), France ($8.1 million from 717 locations), Russia ($6.75 million from 906 locales) and Australia ($6.4 million from 413 situations).
Sony‘s SALT grossed $5.1 million overseas day-and-date release with its domestic release at 779 screens in 17 secondary markets to end its opening weekend tally at $5.1 million.
Director Phillip Noyce‘s Cold War thriller starring Angelina Jolie as a suspect CIA agent premiered No. 1 in Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. It finished second in India, the best opening in the market for a Jolie title. Brazil, Japan, Korea and Russia openings are due this week.
The 3D version of Toy Story 3 had record openings in UK and Spain. While the animation threequel grossed a huge $30.6 million (including previews) in the UK, in Spain the debut tally was $7.9 million.
The film‘s foreign earnings qualifies the title as Disney‘s sixth biggest-grossing animation title ever offshore. With a worldwide gross total of $730.5 million, makes it the seventh biggest-grossing animation title of all time from any distributor.
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.
