International
The Avengers amasses $95.4 million in 3rd week
MUMBAI: Continuing its onward victorious march, Disney and Marvel‘s The Avengers garnered a weekend tally of $95.4 million from 54 territories in its third week.
Avengers‘ weekend action was down by 39 per cent from the last weekend‘s gross. In just 12 days, the film has out grossed such Marvel titles as Captain America ($192 million offshore), Iron Man ($266.7 million), Thor ($268.3 million) and Iron Man 2 ($311.5 million).
Besides setting industry opening records in a dozen offshore markets including Brazil and Mexico, the Joss Whedon-directed film rolled up mighty market cumes in the UK ($65.7 million), China ($52.3 million), Mexico ($49.6 million), Korea ($41.3 million), Australia ($40.5 million), Russia ($36 million), France ($33.4 million) and Germany ($24.1 million).
Slightly eating into Avengers‘ gross intake was Warner Bros.‘ Dark Shadows that opened offshore at 5,664 sites in 42 territories for an estimated $36.7 million. It finished No. 2 on the weekend.
The Johnny Depp film drew 93 per cent of what 2005‘s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory grossed in the same markets at “the same point in release,” said Warner Bros. (Factory went on to take in $268 million offshore.)
The biggest market for Shadows was Russia, where the film playing at 977 situations grossed $5.3 million. A No. 1 France opening generated $4.6 million at 474 situations, and in the UK, the film collected $4 million from 515 venues.
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.
