Hollywood’s Universal Studios to pump in $3.2 billion for a theme park in Beijing.
In a bid to cash in on the sprawling Chinese entertainment market, Hollywood giant Universal Studio’s is all set to build a movie theme park in the capital city of Beijing. The announcement came on Monday, October 14, 2014 from the Chinese government.
The Beijing theme park will be the biggest project ever for Universal and will cost around $3.2 bn (20 billion Yuan).
The Hollywood big wig won’t be the sole owners of the mega project, Beijing Shouhuan Cultural Tourism Investment (BSH Investment) which is a conglomerate of four state owned companies, will co-own the theme park along with Universal Parks & Resort.
The park will stretch across a vast expanse of roughly 300 acres of land and later expand into a 1,000 acre site located to the east of Beijing in Tongzhou district.
The movie based theme park will also taper its entertainment to fit in with Chinese culture and heritage, “(the park) proper homage to culture in China,” said Tom Williams, chairman and CEO of Universal Parks & Resorts.
The Chinese government has apparently reported that the theme park will open its doors in 2019, speculations about a Universal CityWalk entertainment complex within the environs, coupled with a virgin venture of a Universal-themed resort are doing to the rounds.
China is the world’s most populated country with a rapidly burgeoning middle class, with such spending power and potential in it’s economy, China is slowly becoming a destination which attracts big foreign investments such as this one.
Universal isn’t the first one to step into the entertainment scene in China, arch rivals Walt Disney and DreamWorks Animation have already set shop in China with their own respective theme parks set for an opening date prior to Universal – 2016.
Beijing will be Universal’s third installment in Asia, it already has two massive properties in Osaka (Japan) and Singapore.
