International
‘Star Wars’ to be re-booted with a new film
MUMBAI: After a bevy of emails and phone calls, the formalities have been wrapped up, and a new Star Wars film will be made.
J.J. Abrams will direct ‘Star Wars: Episode VII‘, the first of a new series of Star Wars films to come from Lucasfilm under Kathleen Kennedy ‘Lincoln‘. Abrams will be directing and Michael Arndt will write the screenplay.
Kennedy said, “It‘s very exciting to have J.J. aboard leading the charge as we set off to make a new Star Wars movie. J.J. is the perfect director to helm this. Beyond having such great instincts as a filmmaker, he has an intuitive understanding of this franchise. He understands the essence of the Star Wars experience, and will bring that talent to create an unforgettable motion picture.”
Lucas said, “I‘ve consistently been impressed with J.J. as a filmmaker and storyteller. He‘s an ideal choice to direct the new Star Wars film and the legacy couldn‘t be in better hands.”
J.J. Abrams said, “To be a part of the next chapter of the Star Wars saga, to collaborate with Kathy Kennedy and this remarkable group of people, is an absolute honour. I may be even more grateful to George Lucas now than I was as a kid.”
J.J, his longtime producing partner Bryan Burk, and Bad Robot are on board to produce along with Kathleen Kennedy under the Disney | Lucasfilm banner.
Also consulting on the project are Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg. Kasdan has a long history with Lucasfilm, as screenwriter on ‘The Empire Strikes Back‘, ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark‘ and ‘Return of the Jedi‘. Kinberg was writer on ‘Sherlock Holmes‘ and ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith‘.
Abrams and his production company Bad Robot have made films like ‘Star Trek‘, ‘Super 8‘, ‘Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol‘ and ‘Star Trek Into Darkness‘. Abrams has worked with Lucasfilm‘s postproduction facilities, Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, on all of the films that he has directed, beginning with ‘Mission: Impossible III‘. He also created or co-created television series like ‘Felicity‘, ‘Alias‘, ‘Lost‘ and ‘Fringe‘.
Past ‘Star Wars‘ veterans, dating back to the classic trilogy, offered words of praise from their direct experience with Abrams: Visual Effects Supervisor Dennis Muren, ASC, whose credits include the original Star Wars trilogy as well as landmark films such as E.T. and Jurassic Park, also worked with Abrams on Super 8.
Muren said, “He puts everything he has into his work. He totally immerses himself. He‘s got such a visual eye, which is so important to the Star Wars films. It seems that a lot of the same things that were in George when he made the first Star Wars films are also in J.J. I think he‘s going to fit into the other movies perfectly, with the energy that J.J. has. We‘re kick-starting Star Wars again with dynamite. It will knock people out, including the people who get to work on it. I think it‘s a great choice.”
Ben Burtt, responsible for Star Wars sounds as Darth Vader‘s breathing, R2-D2‘s beeps and the classic lightsaber, has worked with Abrams as sound designer and sound editor on Star Trek and Super 8.
Burtt said, “J.J represents the next generation of filmmakers from those that were making Star Wars when I started. When he was a teen, he was a fan of Star Wars, and a great deal of his love for movies came out of his reaction of that first Star Wars film. You feel that he‘s already invested so many years in it, and he‘s going to propel it forward in a new way. In other words, you‘re having a fan who has grown up and developed tremendous directorial skills finding himself at the steering wheel to take the franchise into the next stage. I feel like I‘m there watching history turn over from one era to another.”
Matthew Wood, who served as supervising sound editor on Super 8, similarly grew up as a Star Wars fan before working on the films through the prequels. He said, “Working with him, it was so obvious to me that J.J. and I have the same nostalgic love of that era. Now we have someone from that generation who is going to be at the helm of the Star Wars franchise that I‘ve known and worked on, so it‘s a great circle. Just seeing what he did with Super 8 and capturing those moments, and knowing what was so special about that era, it‘s going to speak to a new generation of audience as well.”
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.
