: Chinese authorities announced this week that a major $8 billion (RMB51 billion) Paramount theme park resort and arts complex will be built on the shores of Dianchi Lake in southwestern Yunnan province’s capital city Kunming.
: Chinese authorities announced this week that a major $8 billion (RMB51 billion) Paramount theme park resort and arts complex will be built on the shores of Dianchi Lake in southwestern Yunnan province’s capital city Kunming.
6 comments:
I think a paramount theme park sounds like a lot of fun, although I am unsure of what movies and franchises are actually Paramount. But when I think about what movies are Universal, I have to think about the theme park because that is what I mostly associate with them. So in that sense, I think a theme part for Paramount will be really good for brand recognition in the least. It seems like the chose a good place in China as well for this theme park because of the high amount of tourism in that area. I do wonder if they have plans to open up more theme parts around the world. I think the author makes an important note about how this announcement is ill timed with the low in relationships between the US and China. I wonder what effect that relationship has had on this deal and the plans for this theme park, and if there is worry about if it could change in the future.
I think this is a very exciting announcement. Although it is not necessarily a nearby destination, and I likely will never actually go, I still think this is a really cool concept for Paramount. I will say, I did not really know any Paramount movies off the top of my head prior to reading the article. The article mentions a few good ones, including the Mission Impossible series and the Star Trek series, among others. I also went to Paramount’s website and did a little but more digging through their film library and it definitely seems as if there is a lot of good potential for themed areas and rides in the park. I also noticed that Paramount technically still owns the first four Indiana Jones movies, even though ownership has passed on to Disney with the purchasing of Lucasfilm. I have to wonder if there will be any opportunity for Indiana Jones themed attractions at the Paramount park since they technically own the first four movies, even though Disney now owns the title and already has an Indiana Jones themed ride at their own Disneyland.
This sounds like a really interesting and enormous project happening in China. Being the third largest hollywood theme park in China, this project is certainly going to be a big one. I think the Chinese government involvement in this project is a really interesting component of it and seems to be a rather large part of the resor. 383 acres will be dedicated to institutions seeking to bolster cultural ties between China and Southeast Asia. It seems as though this is being done in order to have the Chinese government invest a lot of money into this project. According to the article, this is controversial to some because people say that China is using large projects like these to promote itself, but behind all of this glitz and glamour the problematic elements of the Chinese government are being hidden. I’m also really interested to see what a Paramount theme park will actually look like. I think the idea of themed rides around TV shows and movies could be really fun and interesting. I look forward to seeing how this project pans out.
This is a rather interesting article. Firstly, I had no idea Paramount owned theme parks and is intending on opening 3 more within the next few years. And like Annika says, it took me a while to think of the IPs Paramount holds. Whilst I have no doubt in them building rides and creating merch around their IPs, I am rather skeptical about their choice of location and operating strategy. Although Kunming is a beautiful place and a popular tourist destination, having been there myself recently I know its current transportation system is not sufficient enough to support a whole lot of international flights. Getting there within China is manageable but navigating around the city still requires some work. Moreover, its high altitude and unique physical geographic characteristics can be another challenge. Regardless, I’m still looking forward to the opening of Paramount’s theme park.
I never knew that Paramount had previous theme parks but I think that it is interesting that they now have plans for three. I’m not sure how well those would do in the United States but it seems like an interesting enterprise working with the Chinese Government. I wonder how the parks main attractions were selected? I think that I’d be kind of intrigued by the “Peanuts” and “Star Trek” Attraction but I have no idea what Italian Jobs or Dinotopia are. I am interested to see what attractions could be unique in the Mission Impossible area. It also seems that if the government is involved that their influence will be extreme so I probably wouldn’t be able to come up with anything realistic, with my western expectations and understanding. The comment about how they are doing it just to prove that their business model is quite fascinating. I guess we will see in the next couple of years how it goes.
I think it is really interesting that Paramount leans so heavily towards licensing rather than investing their own money into projects. It may save money, but having direct control over your products seems to have done well for Universal and Disney. Sure, you aren’t on the hook if someone’s project fails, but the damage it could do to your brand is still very real. I also wonder how this may impact other parks that use Paramount property. For instance, Cedar Point in Ohio has a Peanuts store and a roaming and performing characters from the Peanuts universe. I imagine Cedar Point may have rights to those characters taken away as Paramount’s new theme park in China get further into development. I am also interested to see if this becomes a project to promote China itself, as the article suggests is likely. I imagine the contract between Paramount and the park would specify how much non-Paramount related branding can be involved.
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