International
Ape story grosses $ 54 million at box office
MUMBAI: 20th Century Fox‘s Rise of the Planet of the Apes opened to $54 million at the domestic box office, 20 million more than the best forecast.
Overseas, the film exceeded expectations too, grossing a robust $23.4 million from 25 territories, including four major markets like Australia, Spain, Russia and Taiwan, where it topped the box office charts.
Directed by Rupert Wyatt and starring James Franco, Rise premiered in at least nine markets with Spain ($5.2 million from 517 sites), Australia ($5.1 million from 359 locations) and Russia ($5.09 million from 1,012 situations) leading the list.
Fox said weekend action exceeded expectations “given only four of the top 15 international markets are in release.”
Rise of the Apes is particularly drawing notice for its photo-realistic apes created by Peter Jackson‘s Weta Digital using advanced performance capture technology. “The combination of never-before-seen special effects combined with a powerful, emotional story made for a supremely satisfying epxerience at the movies,” Fox senior vice president of domestic distribution Chris Aronson said.
Thanks to a great debut, which Warner Bros. estimates at $25.5 million drawn from 4,200 venues, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 remained at the top spot grossing $61.8 million from 15,632 screens in 61 markets.
Finishing at No. 3 on the weekend was Marvel Studios‘ Captain America: The First Avenger has gone past the $100-million overseas gross mark ($103 million) since it began its foreign run on 22 July. Worldwide, the film has registered $246.2 million.
Latest weekend, the film drew $27.5 million from 5,037 locations in 41 territories, bolstered by openings in Spain ($2.5 million from 381 spots), Hong Kong and Israel. The film opens in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and India this week.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon, that opened offshore on 29 June has till date totally grossed $693.5 million. The film pulled $17.5 million from 10,680 venues in 62 markets including strong holdovers in Japan and China and a No. 1 bow in Indonesia ($1.8 million from 98 locations) last weekend.
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.
