The French president’s team is reportedly discussing the construction of a large manga-themed amusement park outside Paris with Saudi Arabian counterparts. The billion-euro concept is based on one of the best-selling manga series in history.
President Emmanuel Macron‘s team has been working for several months to secure investment for this venture from the Qiddiya Investment Company, a Saudi Public Investment Fund subsidiary. No final agreement has been reached yet, but if approved, the project could be worth more than €1 billion, Politico reported.
One source described the project as being «highly confidential», and the Elysee Palace has yet to comment on the project.
What else is known so far
Politico wrote that the concept would be based on Dragon Ball, a Japanese action-packed series featuring a boy who goes from a rookie to a martial arts master. 160 million copies were sold in Japan and 260 million worldwide, according to estimates.
The manga-themed park would not be built from scratch; instead, Saudi investors would acquire Mirapolis, a French theme park located some 30 kilometres northwest of Paris.
It opened in 1987 but closed only four years later because it failed to attract enough visitors. Since then, there have been many attempts to redevelop the site, none of which have yielded results, and the large site has remained largely untouched.
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