Saudi-Backed Qiddiya Plans $7 Billion Paris Theme Park Hub Featuring Dragon Ball

Saudi Arabia’s entertainment development engine is taking its tourism ambitions to Europe with a planned $7 billion mega-project outside Paris, leaning heavily on iconic Japanese anime intellectual property to draw international visitors.

The venture, spearheaded by the Saudi-backed developer Qiddiya, outlines plans for three separate theme parks situated in Cergy-Pontoise, an urban area located roughly 30 kilometers northwest of the French capital. French authorities estimate that the multi-billion-dollar buildout could yield around 22,000 direct jobs.

Global Franchises on French Soil

A centerpiece of the French complex will be a dedicated Dragon Ball Z amusement park. The move signals Qiddiya's intent to anchor its commercial ventures in globally recognizable pop-culture properties rather than relying strictly on traditional resort concepts.

This is not Qiddiya's first foray into the franchise. The developer is already constructing the world’s first standalone Dragon Ball theme park near Riyadh as part of Saudi Arabia's domestic entertainment gigaprojects.

Specific blueprints and target launch dates for the Cergy-Pontoise development have not yet been released. French government officials and Qiddiya have confirmed the project's broad outline, but technical planning, zoning approvals, and concepts for the two remaining parks in the tri-park cluster remain under wraps.

The Strategic Angle

The European expansion underscores how Gulf-backed sovereign capital is evolving its media investment strategy. Rather than limiting massive infrastructure deployments to domestic soil, developers are attempting to leverage acquired licensing rights across foreign markets, setting up a direct challenge to established European leisure destinations like Disneyland Paris.