Utopai X Takes No. 2 Spot in Global AI Video Ranking as Studio Advances 2027 Film Slate

The ranking uses a Video Arena blind review mechanism. Viewers do not know the model brand and vote on videos generated from the same prompt based only on viewing experience; rankings are determined by Elo scores formed by those votes. The report said Utopai X was post-trained based on MiniMax H3 and surpassed both the original MiniMax H3 and MiniMax H3 Max, which were also developed from that base. Utopai X ranked first in audio synchronization and physics performance and second in lighting and materials and camera control. The model was optimized for difficulties including reflections, caustics, spatial understanding and advanced consistency, with the aim of making generated footage more usable and reducing the need to repeatedly generate and sift through shots.

Utopai is headquartered in Mountain View, California. Co-founders Cecilia Shen and Jie Yang serve as CEO and CTO, respectively. Shen previously worked on data science and AI solutions at Google X. The company began as Cybever in 2022, with early research focused on procedural content generation and high-fidelity 3D environments for games and film previsualization. It later extended into spatial reasoning, camera scheduling and the generation of cinematic video from 3D previsualization. In 2025, Cybever was renamed Utopai Studios and began building a film and television development, production and distribution system around original works and co-productions. Forbes estimated Utopai’s valuation at about $1 billion. Variety described it as the “world’s largest independent AI-native film company” and reported on a slate of three films and two series planned for 2027.

To move generation into production, Utopai developed PAI, a production intelligence platform, and integrated Utopai X deeply into it. Utopai X provides video generation, while PAI organizes scripts, characters, scenes, shots and creative feedback so that generation can draw on information already established in a project. In PAI, a script can be broken down into scenes and shots, with characters, locations, props and visual references linked throughout the project. When creators work on a new shot, they can call up approved settings rather than rebuilding the story world for each generation. AI agents act as production assistants, helping filmmakers plan shots, test ideas and produce multiple versions; creators can compare options, review earlier versions and decide what to make, keep or change. Selected material then enters an editing timeline and connects with professional post-production tools such as Premiere and DaVinci Resolve. According to the report, the story, visual style, performances and final cut remain under filmmakers’ control. Chief Scientific Officer Zijian He said technology should expand filmmakers’ canvas.

Research and production run under the same roof, creating an iterative loop. Problems artists encounter on set become issues for research and development, such as how to keep a character consistent across scenes, how to preserve an approved composition after changing an action, or how multiple versions can enter editing for creators to compare. Data and expert feedback from actual production are used to refine models, agents and workflows, and the resulting capabilities return to current projects and then to later works. Compared with testing isolated clips, professional production offers more complete feedback: filmmakers judge not only whether a shot looks good but whether it connects with neighboring shots, can still be modified and meets final delivery requirements.

Utopai’s production system is being applied to stories across different types and cultural backgrounds. The animated feature The Most Serious Fart, planned for 2027, is adapted from Mike Bender’s 2023 children’s book of the same name. The story follows Siegfried, an unusually serious fart who wants to change how others see him and, on his journey, learns self-acceptance and belonging. Utopai said it aims to build recognizable characters and story worlds into entertainment IP that can be extended over time. Mike Bender will write and direct; Russell Hollander will produce; illustrator Chuck Dillon will serve as creative art director. Joe Stillman, who co-wrote Shrek and received an Oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay, is co-executive producer. Andy Brooks, whose credits include How to Train Your Dragon, joins story and storyboard work. John Lee, a former Pixar art director, leads production design, and Scott Muller, casting director for The Simpsons and Futurama, handles voice casting. According to Utopai, human animators and illustrators lead creation, AI assists production iteration, and creators retain control of character emotion and story rhythm.

The family film Half Moon is being made with partners including Germany’s In Good Company and Korea’s Paper Barn Studios, with PAI supporting some visual elements. The historical epic Cortés faces a different production challenge: bringing large-scale historical scenes into a film that can be completed and released. Set in 1519, it centers on Hernán Cortés’s expedition to the Aztec Empire and the conflict between Spanish conquistadors and Indigenous peoples. Oscar-nominated screenwriter Nicholas Kazan has said he worked for more than 30 years to tell the story, with scale and cost repeatedly blocking the project. The subject also involves complex and contested historical narratives. Kazan said the film hopes to acknowledge different positions and perspectives and to present the encounter and conflict between two cultures through a specific story, rather than treating one side’s account as the whole history. The film is directed by Paul Mignot and produced by Marco Weber, based in Paris and shooting in Spain, with a target release in 2027.

In Asia, Utopai is co-developing and distributing the animated series Journey to the West: The Missing 500 Years with Huace Film & TV, using PAI for development and production. Its work with Japan’s DeNA covers visual concepts, characters, environments and scene iteration, with creative approval remaining with DeNA artists. Its Korea business is based on the creative team of Alquimista Media; APAC head Hyun Park has worked at Studio Dragon, Warner Bros. Korea and DramaFever. Space Nation, an eight-episode science fiction series made with partners including Ex Machina Studios, follows humanity facing an alien threat. For PAI, the series requires characters, environments, visual style and narrative continuity to hold across an entire season. The report said Space Nation became the first AI series to reach agreements with traditional rights buyers, with Brazil’s Globoplay and German television stations acquiring distribution rights at market prices for non-AI content. Forbes reported that, provided the final works are delivered as agreed, the potential combined pre-sales for Space Nation and Cortés could reach about $110 million.

Cortés and Space Nation were first reported in 2025 and are now moving toward planned 2027 releases. The long development process has unfolded during a period of particular sensitivity in Hollywood over the boundaries of AI use. According to Forbes, Cortés plans to combine live-action performances with digital environments, filming actors’ performances and placing them in digital scenes. Such projects require far fewer people than traditional productions of comparable scale. For producers, that is a condition for starting expensive stories; for workers, the same numbers can mean changes in job opportunities. The controversy therefore has a concrete focus: after live-action filming ends, to what extent an actor’s image can be modified, whether it can be used in other shots or later works, and how licensing and compensation are calculated will directly affect whether this production method is accepted.