France and Saudi Arabia have entered into an agreement to build a US$7 billion amusement park near Paris, which will be themed after the world of the hit Japanese manga franchise, Dragon Ball Z.
As reported by Reuters, the project will be built near Cergy-Pontoise, northwest of Paris. Reportedly, the idea for a Dragon Ball theme park arose from a late 2024 meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, where the leaders discovered their shared enthusiasm for the franchise.
The agreement for the project was signed during a two-day visit to France by Mohammed bin Salman, and will see the construction of three theme parks. While one of the parks will be manga-themed, the details of the remaining two have yet to be disclosed. The parks are expected to create around 22,000 jobs, according to the Élysée Palace, compared with around 20,000 generated by Disneyland Paris.
The project will be financed by Qiddiya, a Saudi entertainment and investment group, which is also constructing a separate Dragon Ball theme park in Qiddiya City, and continues the Kingdom’s push to diversify its economy beyond oil and expand into the leisure and entertainment industry.
While the agreement has been set, the parks are planned to be built and opened in stages, meaning that construction is set to take several years, with no opening date set as of now.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Si Jia
