International
Chinese box office helps Dark Knight to stand at No. 1
Mumbai: The Chinese box-office helped The Dark Knight garner the number one position on the foreign theatrical circuit though locally it stood at the second spot.
With an estimated overseas weekend collection of $46.4 million from as many as 10,156 theatres in 64 territories, the Batman sequel pulled in an estimated $28.5 million from Monday through Sunday from nearly 4,100 situations in China, according to distributor Warner Bros.
Also opening in China was the weekend‘s No. 2, Sony‘s The Amazing Spider-Man, the fourth title in the blockbuster series, which made its international debut on 27 June.
Of the total intake of $33.7 million from 7,125 sites in 59 markets, $33.3 million came from China over a seven-day period. This was more than that Spider-Man 3 grossed in its total China run. The total foreign collection of Amazing now stands at $475.3 million.
Millennium-Nu Image Films‘ The Expendables 2, last weekend‘s No. 1 title on the foreign theatrical circuit, is likely to go down to the No. 3 this week once all the numbers come in later this week.
The action sequel co0starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Dammes and Arnold Schwarzenegger opened at No. 1 in Brazil, Germany, Australia and ($564,053 from 66 sites) in Austria.
The film also remained No. 1 in its second France round and extracted $2.3 million from 870 spots in Italy and Russia via Universal pushing the two-market total to $22.8 million.
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.
