Utopai X Takes Second in Global Text-to-Video Ranking as AI Film Studio Sets 2027 Slate

Artificial Analysis recruited reviewers to cast blind votes on pairs of videos generated from the same prompt. The reviewers did not know which model produced which video and chose the one they preferred. QbitAI reported that Utopai X reached 1,150 points under that process.

Utopai X uses MiniMax's open-source video model H3 as a base and applies post-training on top of it, according to QbitAI. Artificial Analysis placed Utopai X and MiniMax H3 in the same blind test. In 10 capabilities, Utopai X moved closer to the top level than its base model in seven, with the clearest gains in audio synchronization, camera control and physics. In category rankings, it was four points from the highest score in live-action film, and it ranked first in social media content and architecture and real estate.

Alongside the model, Utopai introduced PAI, a production platform with the model embedded inside. A director can work from script to edit on one workbench, according to the report. The director submits a script and selects a style; the system then breaks it into scenes and shots and lays out characters, environments and multiple versions of each shot on a canvas. One feature, called impact checking, warns when inserting a new shot would break eyeline continuity with later shots and marks those shots for regeneration. The director still makes the final decision on which version to keep.

PAI has been used in real projects. QbitAI reported that an animated short starring NBA player James Harden's signature beard was made after people set the story and script and PAI generated the visuals. In September, Utopai began working with DeNA, the Japanese mobile game and entertainment company that co-developed multiple Pokémon games, to explore an AI-assisted animation production process. The report described that partnership as a commercial example of PAI.

Utopai's slate includes theatrical projects. Cortés is set in 1519, when Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés entered the Aztec Empire and the two civilizations moved from testing each other to war. The screenplay is by Oscar-nominated writer Nicholas Kazan, who had wanted to make the story for more than 30 years but was repeatedly blocked because it was too large and too expensive, according to QbitAI. Utopai began developing the project in 2025 and has continued through the present. The team spent substantial time on historical research, script work and examining different characters' positions. Rebuilding 16th-century cities and battle scenes is only part of the task; the film also has to handle how different civilizations met, misunderstood each other and moved toward conflict. It is scheduled for a wide theatrical release in 2027.

Space Nation, a science-fiction series, is also planned for 2027. QbitAI reported that long-form projects of this kind require development, production and delivery to continue across years, with teams still handling character, plot and visual continuity after individual scenes are completed. The Most Serious Fart is an animated family film whose protagonist is a serious fart named Siegfried who dislikes his identity, wants to change how people see farts and tries to become respectable, eventually learning to accept himself, find friends and find pleasure in life. It is adapted from Mike Bender's children's book of the same name. Joe Stillman, a writer on Shrek, is co-executive producer; former Pixar art director John Lee handles production design; and Scott Muller, casting director on Zootopia, handles voice casting. Animators and illustrators lead original artwork, with AI assisting iteration under their direction, according to the report. The film is also planned for a wide theatrical release in 2027.

Half Moon follows a girl and her estranged aunt spending a summer together on a remote island in the North Sea and gradually understanding each other's pain and loneliness. It is director Hyo-joo Yang's first feature; her short Broken Night won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and the Sonje Award at Busan, QbitAI reported. The German-Korean co-production is a live-action film centered on performance and emotional relationships, with PAI supporting some visual elements. The report said Utopai's willingness to back a director's first feature and a quiet family story indicates that good stories come before technology for the company.

Utopai says its filmmaking preferences come from the production floor. Its technical team and film projects operate within the same company, and problems artists encounter while designing characters, building environments and organizing shots flow back into models, agents and workflows along with production data and expert feedback. The research team also uses an internal Elo rating system that combines human preference evaluations with automatic voting by vision-language models; artists take part in the human evaluations. Which shot a director keeps and why another is rejected are judgments that are hard to create in a laboratory, according to the report. Utopai also expects base models to improve and be replaceable, while production knowledge accumulated in each project compounds.

Cecilia Shen told Forbes that being only a technology supplier would not allow the company to reach a $100 billion scale, and that the feature film market has barely been developed by anyone. Within Utopai, PAI and Utopai X are tools for making films, with the final products centered on stories and creators. Three films, Cortés, Half Moon and The Most Serious Fart, are scheduled for wide theatrical release in 2027. According to Forbes, Utopai has presold some international distribution rights at current market prices for non-AI content to Brazil's Globoplay and a distributor owned by a major German television network. If delivered as agreed, Space Nation and Cortés alone could generate up to $110 million in revenue, with more potential from additional territories or global streaming deals. The fact that the projects can sell at market prices means buyers have not discounted them because they use AI, QbitAI reported. Utopai has more than 20 projects in different stages of development and production across theatrical, television, streaming and digital platforms. Its website describes a selection approach focused on stories that were previously out of reach because of budget, scale or risk: animated worlds built from imagination, distinctive authorial perspectives in art films, and epic productions too expensive for anyone to attempt. In those projects, AI expands the canvas while creators decide how to shoot and tell the story.