International
McQueen’s Shame grosses $ .36 million on debut
MUMBAI: This week‘s release Steve McQueen‘s Shame was one of the top debuts ever for a film given a NC-17 rating. The film grossed $361,181 from 10 theaters for a location average of $36,118.
Fox Searchlight, that is planning an aggressive awards campaign for the film has decided to first test the appetite for the film in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco.
Searchlight, that acquired Shame from the Telluride Film Festival, believes that the film will play well throughout awards season, despite the challenges associated with the NC-17 rating.
Two awards contenders landed on the top 10 box office chart. Martin Scorsese‘s Hugo expanded into an additional 500 theatres over the weekend. The 3D family friendly film-named best film of the year by the National Board of Review last week, garnered $7.6 million from 1,840 locations.
In another victory for Searchlight, Alexander Payne‘s The Descendants climbed to No. 7 on the box office chart after grossing $5.2 million as it added 141 locations for a total theater count of 574.
Descendants, starring George Clooney has now grossed $18.1 million and is the first limited release to ever cross $10 million in 12 days. And the film is already the No. 2 limited release of the year after Woody Allen‘s Midnight in Paris that has roped in a total $56 million.
The tally of Midnight in Paris includes $274,518 million grossed over the weekend as Sony Pictures Classics made one last push before the DVD comes out on December 20 and re-released the film in nearly 300 theaters.
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.
