International
Disney’s Brave nets $80 mn over the weekend
MUMBAI: Brave, Disney‘s new animated film about a rebellious, red-headed princess, battled to the top of the box office charts over the weekend scoring $80 million in ticket sales around the world.
The fairy tale from Disney‘s Pixar studio pulled in $66.7 million at domestic theatres in the US from Friday through Sunday in addition to $13.5 million from international markets. The film easily topped new historical/horror mashup Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter that finished the weekend in third place.
The 3D formatted Brave is set in the ancient Scottish highlands and centres around horseback-riding teen princess Merida, who defies her mother and her kingdom‘s traditions. Merida, voiced by Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald, must then use her courage and archery skills to undo a curse.
The film brings the 13th consecutive No. 1 opening to Pixar that has become Hollywood‘s most reliable studio during its 17-year history of making films. Starting with ‘Toy Story‘ in 1995, its 12 films before Brave have generated more than $7.2 billion in worldwide ticket sales, according to a trade analyst.
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.
