Just as the first chapter of Elon Musk’s AI -produced version of The Odyssey was turning off viewers in the United States, the first feature-length AI-generated movie widely released in China was flopping at the box office .

The film, the sci-fi thriller Sanxingdui: Future Past , was released last week and only grossed an estimated $198,000, according to the French wire service Agence France-Presse .

There have been several other AI-generated feature films in limited release in other countries. But with 10,000-plus opening-day screenings, Future Past marks the first long-form AI film to get a true wide release with reported box office numbers in a major territory, arguably marking the first real commercial test of the technology for feature-length projects.…