Utopai Studios and China’s Huace Film & TV have announced a co-production agreement for Journey to the West: The Lost Five Hundred Years, a fully AI-generated animated series that will serve as the foundation of a planned global franchise inspired by one of China’s most celebrated literary classics.
The project will be produced using Pai, Utopai Studios’ proprietary cinematic storytelling AI system, with Huace overseeing production. Utopai Studios will retain distribution rights outside China. The first season is being developed for broadcast, streaming and digital platforms, while the broader property is envisioned as a multi-format franchise with future theatrical releases.
The series marks the first major production to emerge from the strategic partnership between Utopai and Huace, which selected Pai as its core platform for long-form narrative creation.
“Journey to the West is not only one of China’s most beloved cultural treasures, but it is also one of the great mythological universes in world entertainment,” said Utopai Studios co-founder and CEO Cecilia Shen. “With Huace, we have the opportunity to build a bold new interpretation of this story while expanding it into a franchise-scale universe for global audiences.”
Huace Group CEO Binxing Fu said that the collaboration aims to introduce the classic mythology to new generations through AI-powered animation while preserving the story’s cultural significance and emotional depth.
The announcement highlights the growing role of generative AI in animation production and positions the project as one of the most ambitious AI-generated franchise initiatives announced to date.
