International
Pixar to woo Chinese audience with Asian premier of Monster’s University
MUMBAI: Pixar‘s Monster‘s University, a sequel to the 2001 Monster Inc. is slated to release in China as the curtain raiser of the Shanghai International Film Festival on June 15.
The 3-D animation comedy will release in the Chinese version with Xu Zheng voicing the protagonist blue haired monster Sulley and He Jiong, voicing the single eyed green monster Mike.
The Lost in Thailand director-star Xu Zheng‘s roped in by He Jiong has gained immense popularity in the country with his prestige and reputation as the man behind the highest-grossing domestic release in China. The comedy raked in $203.9 million (1.25 billion yuan) during its three-month run at the box office from December 2012 to February 2013 as stated by Hollywood Reporter.
The actor-singer He Jiong has too achieved fame for his 10-year stint as host of Happy Family, one of the most popular TV variety shows in the country. The premier of Monster University is a move by the American animator Pixar to push the movie in China. A collection of the animation studio‘s previous short films will also be shown during the festival.
Pixar has yet to announce Monsters University‘s release date in the country. The film is imported into China as one of the 34 "shared-revenue” films allowed into the country every year.
The animated comic movie is slated to premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival on June 8, followed by screenings at the Sydney (June 10) and Los Angeles (June 18) festivals before its opening wide screening in the U.S. on June 21, a week after Warner Bros‘ Man of Steel is slated to release.
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.
