International
Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson in Saving Mr Banks
MUMBAI: Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson have been signed to play pivotal roles in a film based on Disney‘s Mary Poppins titled Saving Mr Banks.
The film, scripted by Kelly Marcel, details how Walt Disney spent 14 years coaxing PL Travers, the Australian author of Mary Poppins, to adapt her books about the magical nanny.
Travers resisted for a long time because she feared Disney would make an animated adaptation. The studio finally made a live-action movie in 1964 that starred Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. But the film was not without the animated sequences that turned Travers off from working with Disney again.
The studio picked up the Black List script earlier this year and later signed John Lee Hancock to direct.
Hanks is currently shooting for Sony‘s true-life tale Captain Phillips about a captain who dealt with Somali pirates during the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama. Thompson, who will be seen in Men in Black III has done a voice over in Pixar‘s Brave.
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.
