Saudi Arabia to build 3 amusement parks in France for billions: 'There hasn't been anything like this since Disneyland'
Riyadh will fund and build the parks near the French capital, including one based on the popular Japanese franchise 'Dragon Ball'. An advisor to French President Macron: 'He and the Saudi Crown Prince share a passion for manga, and for this series in particular.' At the same time, Paris rejected criticism regarding the project being entrusted to Saudi Arabia: 'We did not come to lecture others.'
French President Emmanuel Macron hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Paris and announced yesterday, Monday, an 'enormous' project to build three amusement parks near the French capital. One of the parks, which will be built with funding from Riyadh, will include one dedicated to the popular Japanese franchise 'Dragon Ball'.
According to reports on the deal, estimated at 6 billion euros, the park may be built in the Courdimanche area, where the 'Mirapolis' park previously operated, which was based on motifs from French literature and culture, but operated for only four years between 1987 and 1991. Macron announced that the 'unprecedented' deal will lead to the creation of 22,000 new jobs.
'Nothing like this has happened since Disneyland in Paris,' he claimed.
The project was born, as an advisor to Macron tells, from a 'conversation between the two leaders in December 2024' in Riyadh where the two shared their 'shared passion for manga (Japanese comics) and in particular for the Dragon Ball Z series.' The popular series, which is apparently liked by Macron and bin Salman, began in 1984 with the 'Dragon Ball' manga, which achieved great success and over the years expanded into a franchise including numerous animation series, films, and video games, in addition to other comic series, which on their face laid out the continuation stories to the original manga.
The creator of the series, Akira Toriyama, passed away in 2024 at the age of 68, about half a year before the release of the newest animation series produced under him, 'Dragon Ball Daima.' Despite Toriyama's death, the franchise did not enter a hiatus, and apparently continues to be managed under his writing partner for the last decade, Toyotarou, and under the Japanese animation company 'Toei,' who continue the production of new manga and animation series - and apparently also a European amusement park.
At the same time, the themes on which the two additional parks to be established as part of the deal will be based were not announced. It was noted that the construction is expected to take years, but no estimated date for its start was provided. When asked about entrusting the ambitious project to Saudi Arabia, in light of the human rights violations in the country, in Paris they emphasized that France will be the 'beneficiary' of the deal.
'We are trying to set up a project, and are not seeking to lecture others,' it was stated.
