International
Aurelio De Laurentiis announces $ 100 mn expansion plan
MUMBAI: Italian film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis has announced an ambitious $100 million expansion plan for his Filmauro production house. He has also opined on a variety of topics including a new strategy for film distribution, criticism of Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti‘s alleged disinterest in film and an end to Filmauro‘s highly profitable Christmas film franchise.
The expansion plans, involving Universal Pictures International Italy, were the centerpiece of the gregarious De Laurentiis‘ meandering 80-minute monologue at Universal‘s Rome headquarters, with Universal Italy president Richard Borg and De Laurentiis‘ son, Luigi De Laurentiis also present.
De Laurentiis said he would produce at least 20 films in conjunction with Universal Italy, including some international titles. Among them: the Steve Jobs biopic Jobs: Get Inspired and a yet-unnamed project he said would be based on a Truman Capote story and would star Leonardo DiCaprio and Ryan Gosling.
De Laurentiis, 63, nephew of the late famed producer Dino De Laurentiis, also predicted that comedic actor Christian De Sica, the son of iconic Italian director Vittorio De Sica would try his hand increasingly at directing in the future.
The Italian productions he said are in the works include Colpi di fulmine (Lightning Strike), the latest comedy from Neri Parenti, a comedy he said would be called Mr. Love, another featuring popular comic Carlo Verdone called Sei personaggi in cerca d‘amore (Six Characters in Search of Love) and three films from young director Alberto Ferrari, including one that De Laurentiis said Oscar-winning actor and director Roberto Benigni wanted but that De Laurentiis snatched away from him.
The producer also said that he would make his first foray into television next year, with a project of six 100-minute episodes taken from a book by best-selling author Giorgio Faletti.
He also said he soon will travel to Los Angeles to meet with Universal brass to discuss a still wider agreement with the company, covering territories other than Italy.
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.
