Utopai, Huace partner on AI-generated Journey to the West animated series

Journey to the West: The Lost Five Hundred Years is intended to kick off a franchise

Utopai Studios and China’s Huace Film & TV have partnered on Journey to the West: The Lost Five Hundred Years, a fully AI-generated animated series that will serve as the first project produced under the companies’ previously announced strategic alliance.

With the collaboration, Huace will produce the series using Utopai’s proprietary AI storytelling platform, PAI, while Utopai will retain distribution rights outside China.

The project is being developed as the first instalment in a broader franchise strategy based on Journey to the West, one of China’s most widely adapted literary properties. The initial season is planned as an animated series targeting broadcast, streaming and digital platforms, with future theatrical expansion also under consideration.

The deal represents the first production to move forward since Huace selected PAI as its core technology platform for longform narrative development. According to the companies, the AI system is designed to support episodic storytelling, character continuity, world-building and asset creation that can be reused across multiple seasons and formats.

The series focuses on events that precede the traditional Journey to the West narrative, exploring the origins of the relationship between Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, and the monk he later accompanies on the famed pilgrimage. The story follows Jin Chanzi, a celestial monk forced through multiple reincarnations as he attempts to assemble the companions destined to join the journey.

The companies said the broader franchise is being designed as a multi-season universe, with individual instalments focused on different characters and storylines within the Journey to the West mythology. Future extensions could include additional animated content and theatrical releases, said the companies.