Paris 'Dragon Ball' theme park in doubt as Japanese owners deny granting licence

French press was abuzz following the announcement at the end of August of a €6 billion investment in the construction of three new parks on the site of a former amusement park in Cergy-Pontoise, 35 kilometres northwest of Paris.

It came after a meeting between Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who said the project would be supported by Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC), which is owned by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.

Macron promised a project of a scale "unseen since Disneyland Paris", expected to generate 22,000 direct jobs. 

The president's office said only that one of the parks would be manga-themed. However, confusion emerged when media outlets began reporting that it would be inspired by Japanese manga series Dragon Ball, created by legendary artist Akira Toriyama.

Valérie Pécresse, president of the Île-de-France region where the parks are due to be built, even posted a video on her TikTok account on 24 August: "You aren't dreaming: Dragon Ball is coming to Île-de-France. Son Goku [the manga's hero] is getting his own park!"

Pécresse indicated that regional officials had been working on the project "for 18 months", according to a press release on 31 August, which specified one park would be "dedicated to the Dragon Ball universe".

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Permission pending

Yet French newspaper Le Monde soon reported that a "crucial element" was still missing: permission to use the Dragon Ball characters and brand.

Toei Animation, one of the main rights holders to the legendary manga, issued a statement earlier this week confirming it had not been consulted.

"Some media outlets have reported that a 'decision has been made to build a Dragon Ball theme park in France'. Neither our company nor any of the companies holding rights to this property have granted a licence in connection with this project, and we are unaware of any information to that effect," the company said.

Several Japanese companies hold rights to the Dragon Ball franchise, depending on the medium. Following creator Toriyama's death in 2024, any new use of the characters requires all of their agreement, with separate licences needed for each territory. 

Bandai Namco Entertainment, another rights holder, declined to comment to French news agency AFP on Friday, while a spokesperson for Shueisha – the Japanese publisher of the Dragon Ball manga – told AFP that the company had no involvement in the project.

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Parks past

Toei also said that concept images and video used in the reports about the Paris project were taken from a press release about a separate Dragon Ball theme park under development in Saudi Arabia, which was granted a licence back in 2024.

"They relate to the theme park scheduled for construction in Qiddiya City, Saudi Arabia. These images and videos have absolutely no connection" to an amusement park in France, the Japanese company specified. One of the attractions at Mirapolis, a 90-hectare amusement park in Cergy-Pontoise that closed in 1991.

According to the Ile-de-France regional council, the project will be built on the site of former amusement park Mirapolis in the town of Courdimanche, which closed in 1991.

France's first major theme park, Mirapolis opened in 1987 and memorably featured a gigantic, brightly coloured statue of fairytale character Gargantua. The park shut down after just four years, having incurred massive losses.

Construction of the three new parks is expected to span several years, with no defined timeline at this stage. The themes of the other two parks have not been announced.