Key Takeaways
- France and Saudi Arabia unveiled a nearly $7 billion plan for three theme parks northwest of Paris, including a manga attraction promoted as a Dragon Ball Z park.
- Developer Qiddiya Investment Company has reportedly not secured permission from the Japanese rights holders to use Dragon Ball characters or branding, leaving the park’s headline concept unconfirmed.
- The development could create around 22,000 jobs, but construction will take years and the parks will open in stages with no launch date announced.
France's planned $7 billion Dragon Ball Z theme park has hit a snag after the developer reportedly failed to secure licensing rights from the franchise's publisher.
Last Sunday (August 23), it was announced that an anime-themed amusement park was coming to the Paris suburbs after leaders of France and Saudi Arabia formalized a deal, with Qiddiya Investment Company footing the bill, per IGN.
However, according to Le Monde, Qiddiya has not secured the essential licensing from Japanese rights holders for the Dragon Ball brand — a fact that received little attention when French President Emmanuel Macron unveiled the investment on Monday (August 24) to considerable fanfare.
Macron announced the three-park deal during a two-day state visit to France by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The package, valued at €6 billion (almost $7 billion), calls for three theme parks to be built on the site of the former Mirapolis park in Val-d'Oise, northwest of Paris, which closed 35 years ago.
One of those parks is the manga-themed attraction that generated the most buzz. Macron compared the ambition of the overall development to the arrival of Disneyland Paris, posting on X: "You know my interest in manga. You also know how determined I am to bring investments to France that create jobs and make the most ambitious projects possible."
Valérie Pécresse, president of the Paris region, also celebrated the news in a video posted the same day. "No, you're not dreaming: Dragon Ball is coming to the Paris region," she said. "Son Goku will have his own theme park, just a stone's throw from Paris."
The project is led by Qiddiya Investment Company, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. The company had previously revealed plans in 2024 to build a Dragon Ball-inspired park near Riyadh. The Paris-area development is expected to cover more than 500,000 square meters with over 30 attractions across seven themed areas, and is projected to generate around 22,000 jobs.
The personal stakes for both leaders add an unusual dimension to the story. Sources in Macron's inner circle told AFP that he and bin Salman share a genuine passion for Dragon Ball Z, the manga series created by Akira Toriyama, who died in 2024.
Macron owns an original Dragon Ball Z drawing — which you can see below — and the project reportedly took shape after the two bonded over the series during a 2024 meeting. Earlier this year, Macron closed a press briefing with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi by performing a hand gesture from the series.
Without a licensing agreement in place, the Dragon Ball branding that drove global headlines for the announcement remains unconfirmed for the project. Construction is expected to take years, with the parks opening in stages.
