AI production company Utopai Studios is making an animated feature film based on "The Most Serious Fart," a 2023 children's book by "Not Another Teen Movie" screenwriter Mike Bender, illustrated by Chuck Dillon. Bender will write and direct the project, marking a notable case of a studio built primarily around AI-generated content taking on an original, human-driven story with theatrical ambitions, at a time when major studios are seen as increasingly risk-averse about backing unconventional material.

The book, inspired by Bender's Lyme disease diagnosis during the Covid-19 pandemic, follows Siegfried, an "exceptionally serious" fart seeking to change perceptions of flatulence and find belonging. Unlike much of Utopai's slate, the film will use AI only as a tool supporting a human team of animators and illustrators, who have not yet been named. It will be produced by "Flight Risk" producer Russell Hollander, with Utopai chief executive Cecilia Shen saying she hopes Siegfried can become a major global franchise; the project follows Utopai's recent deal with Chinese firm Huace on a fully AI-generated adaptation of "Journey to the West: The Lost Five Hundred Years."