International
Chronicle, Woman in Black top b-o collections
MUMBAI: 20th Century Fox‘s high school superpower film Chronicle opened with a collection of $22 million. It was followed closely by CBS Films‘ Daniel Radcliffe’s horror-thriller The Woman in Black that brought in $21 million.
Both the films over performed with total box office revenues up by 35 per cent compared to that of last year.
For months, films have been skewing, bringing in a lot of worry to filmmakers. But that trend reversed on Friday.
Both films proved to be victories for their respective companies. Fox only spent $12 million to produce Chronicle.
While Chronicle received a B CinemaScore, Woman and Black received a B-. Woman in Black‘s performance is a boost for Radcliffe whose Harry Potter fans turned up to see the star, with females making up 59 per cent of the audience.
Woman in Black, based on Susan Hill‘s novel of the same name, was produced by Hammer Film Productions and preemptively acquired by CBS Films just before the Cannes Film Festival last year.
The third new film of the weekend is Universal and Working Title Films‘ family friendly whale film Big Miracle that opened at No. 4 with a muted revenue of $8.5 million.
Beating Big Miracle for the No. 3 spot was Open Road Film‘s The Grey that grossed $9.5 million in its second weekend for a cume of $34.7 million. The film ‘s attendance fell roughly 40 per cent. The film received an A- CinemaScore.
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.
