France In Talks For €1 Billion ‘Dragon Ball’ Theme Park Near Paris

Two years after unveiling its plans for the world’s first Dragon Ball Theme Park, Saudi Arabia’s Qiddiya Investment Company is already in talks with France to create a second one.

According to Politico, President Emmanuel Macron’s office is in talks with the company, Saudi investors, and several local and regional French institutions to bring the theme park to the site of the defunct Mirapolis park, 20 miles northwest of Paris.

Though details have not yet been made public, the deal could involve an investment of more than €1 billion by Saudi Arabia as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 plan.

The previously announced Saudi Arabian Dragon Ball project, which is somewhat larger, is already under construction in Saudi Arabia’s entertainment hub, Qiddiya City. It will feature more than 30 attractions based on Dragon Ball characters and iconography, including a 230-foot-tall statue of Shenron housing a roller coaster.

So, why France?

France is the second-largest manga market in the world after Japan, with more than 35 million copies sold annually, following a record-breaking 48 million copies in 2022. Dragon Ball helped establish that market, arriving in France as an anime in 1988 before reaching shelves in the early 1990s.

Airing on TF1, France’s main private channel, as part of the children’s program Club Dorothée, the series became a generational sensation, inspiring artists, musicians, and celebrities and shaping what would become the French manga market.

Dragon Ball Z, along with Fist of the North Star and Knights of the Zodiac, also sparked the first controversies around animation in France, with politicians slamming what parents and teachers deemed poor-quality TV that fomented violence in schoolyards.

French networks, much like those in the U.S., famously cut scenes from episodes to remove blood, violence, and other controversial content. Entire episodes were censored, but the fandom grew nonetheless.

To date, Dragon Ball has reportedly sold between 260 million and 300 million copies worldwide across more than 40 countries. France accounts for more than 33 million copies, making it the franchise’s second-largest market.

The Dragon Ball theme park announcement could be confirmed by the end of August, when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is set to make an official visit to France.

Several French associations have already raised concerns about the environmental impact of the megaproject. There are also questions about the Saudi Arabian project, which has been accused of whitewashing the country’s grim human rights record by boosting its global profile through entertainment and pop culture projects.