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Utopai Studios and Huace Film & TV to co-produce fully AI-generated “Journey to the West” animated series
The Apex Times

THE APEX TIMES

Culture/The Apex Times/Jun 22, 6:35 AM EDT

Utopai Studios and Huace Film & TV to co-produce fully AI-generated “Journey to the West” animated series

Deadline reports the companies are creating “Journey to the West: The Lost Five Hundred Years,” generated with Utopai’s PAI system, as an opening chapter in a planned theatrical franchise built on the classic Chinese literary and mythological work.

2 min readEditor-approved Apex article

Utopai Studios and Chinese producer-distributor Huace Film & TV will co-produce a new animated series described as fully AI-generated, Deadline reported. The project is titled Journey to the West: The Lost Five Hundred Years and is positioned as an early installment in a larger film-franchise effort inspired by one of China’s best-known literary and mythological classics.

According to Deadline, the series will be created using Utopai’s AI system called PAI. The companies describe the production as relying on the AI tool for the series’ creative generation process, rather than building the title as a conventional animation pipeline where human-made assets are the primary source material.

Deadline also said the new series is intended to function as the “opening chapter” in a planned theatrical franchise. The reporting frames the animated installment as part of a broader slate of theatrical storytelling derived from Journey to the West themes and setting.

The collaboration joins Utopai’s creative-technology focus with Huace Film & TV, which is described in the report as a producer-distributor. Deadline’s exclusive coverage indicates the companies are building the project as a franchise entry point that can later feed into additional screen releases beyond the initial series.

No release date, platform, or distribution territory for the series was included in the information provided in Deadline’s report excerpt. Deadline’s coverage also does not detail specific labor arrangements, approvals, or content-safety processes for the AI-generated production, beyond identifying the co-producers and the AI system used.

If the theatrical franchise plan advances, the project could mark another high-profile example of AI generation moving into mainstream IP-based screen productions. For audiences and industry stakeholders, the central question in the near term will be how an AI-generated animated series is packaged for viewers and translated into a broader theatrical roadmap, consistent with the companies’ stated franchise intent.

Why It Matters

  • The project indicates continued growth in AI-generated animation tied to major established IP.
  • A stated “theatrical franchise” approach could affect how studios plan development stages and audience rollouts for long-running properties.
  • AI-generated content raises practical questions about production workflows and approvals, especially when the output is positioned for cinema releases.
  • If the franchise moves forward, viewer access and distribution decisions will determine how quickly audiences encounter AI-generated adaptations of widely known cultural stories.
  • The collaboration between a creative-technology studio and a major Chinese producer-distributor highlights how institutional partners may structure next-generation media pipelines.

Sources

Key Facts

  • Utopai Studios and Huace Film & TV are co-producing the animated series Journey to the West: The Lost Five Hundred Years.
  • Deadline reports the series is fully AI-generated.
  • Utopai’s AI system PAI is described as the tool used for the production.
  • The series is planned as an opening chapter in a theatrical franchise inspired by Journey to the West.
  • Deadline’s exclusive reporting identifies Huace Film & TV as the producer-distributor partner.
  • The provided information does not specify a release date, distribution platform, or territories.