International
Madagascar 3 still reigns overseas box office
MUMBAI: Madagascar 3: Europe‘s Most Wanted stood at its No. 1 position for the third consecutive week after it drew $30.1 million from 11,250 locations in 44 territories in the foreign box-office circuit.
The DreamWorks Animation film has surpassed the $200-million total gross mark ($208.4 million) since opening overseas on 6 June.
Complementing its No. 1 domestic opening, Pixar‘s Brave made its debut overseas after generating $13.5 million in its launch in 10 markets. As per its distributor Disney, the collection comes from 17 per cent of the international market.
The top-ranking territory of the film was Russia where the gross was $5.6 million representing a 42 per cent market share. Australia came in with a No. 2 ranking with $3.6 million while the film‘s China debut took 17 per cent of the market with $2.2 million. Overall, the film ranked as the weekend‘s No.3 title.
Finishing outside the top five was 20th Century Fox‘s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter that opened offshore to $8.1 million at 2,656 venues in 17 markets for a per-site average of a little more than $3,000. This Civil War-set action fantasy, starring Benjamin Walker, drew $3.9 million in Russia from 1,482 situations.
The weekend No. 2 title was Universal‘s Snow White and the Huntsman, which took the top spots in France, Japan, Australia and New Zealand and collected $22.6 million overall at 6,780 sites in 60 territories.
Dropping to the fourth place was Fox‘s Prometheus drawing $12.7 million from 6,911 situations in 61 territories. With the film yet to open in key places as Japan, Germany, Italy and Spain, the sci-fi/action film has grossed more than $150-million ($152.9 million) to date on the foreign circuit.
Standing at fifth spot was Men In Black III that drew $10.5 million from 7,660 sites in 75 markets with Japan leading the cumulative pack with $35.4 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.
