Paramount Park Korea
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The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority says it has received confirmation from Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment (MGE) that it will bring forward US$200 million worth of investment originally planned for Phase 2 in order to expedite development work on its Inspire Korea integrated resort following recent delays due to COVID-19.

According to an IFEZ announcement, the injection of funds from Mohegan will help Inspire Korea “break through the COVID-19 crisis earlier,” enabling it to get construction back on schedule and allowing for the activation of further project financing.

Currently Phase 1 (which is not the theme park) of Inspire Entertainment Resort is 12% complete.







Sources: https://www.ifez.go.kr/noti004/2001592 and https://www.asgam.com/index.php/2020/11/14/mohegan-injects-us200-million-to-kick-start-inspire-korea-development/ and http://www.yeongjong.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=6647

Regarding Inspire Entertainment Resort as a whole, the project is facing both some schedule and financial issues. Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment has already put 366 billion won (more than $300 million US dollars) into the resort’s development, and its current progress is 10% towards completion. The resort has applied for a six month extension on the completion deadline, which is currently June 2022 and so it would move to December 2022.

This is the current construction progress which mainly shows Phase 1A’s resort building:



Part of the first phase of Inspire Entertainment Resort is “Spash Bay,” an indoor waterpark that is located in a dome structure as part of the main resort building. No other details about the waterpark have been announced yet but here's an early design:





Sources: http://www.incheontoday.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=202279 and http://www.kyeongin.com/main/view.php?key=20200902010000385 and http://entertainment.hetzeldesign.com/portfolio/incheon-entertainment-village/

The concept art for all the Paramount resorts proposed look suspiciously similar with what I see as a jumbled up copy of each other. Which leads me to believe that all the Paramount resorts will most probably have the same attractions with some small differences.

What sets the London resort apart is its extensive set of undercover rides and buildings because of the British rain and the BBC / ITV rides.

Interesting find: this looks almost like a carbon copy of the designs put through for the Paramount London project.

This concept art is dated 2020 so it is probably the current design of the first park coming to Inspire Entertainment Resort



Source: https://www.saltandlightpartners.com

The good news is that construction on phase one of the resort complex (three 5-star luxury hotels, multipurpose venue with 15,000 seats, and casino) are proceeding as scheduled with a planned opening of June 2022. The somewhat bad news is that apparently the Paramount theme park is part of phase two which may not start construction until 2024 so it's going to be a long wait but at least this project as a whole is still active.

Source: https://www.theguru.co.kr/news/article.html?no=10145

New concept art and details have been released for two theme parks at Inspire Entertainment Resort

Phase 1B's theme park











Phase 2's theme park

The second phase of construction will begin in the second half of 2021, involving 1.3 trillion won in investment to build an indoor theme park by Paramount Pictures. The outdoor theme park will be completed by 2024.

Paramount Korea, a Paramount Pictures-branded theme park slated to open in 2025 near the Incheon airport, is betting on differentiated contents and scale compared to local players such as Everland and Lotte World, according to the US filmmaker’s top official.

Paramount Pictures’ first-ever international theme park will span over 404,600-square-meter area in Yeongjongdo, Incheon, with 40 branded attractions and integrated retail, dining and entertainment.

“(Our strength will synergize with) Korean culture that embraces going to a theme park. We are creating a theme park that is really good for the whole family, providing a holistic experience for both parents and children,” said Ty Granaroli, senior vice president of Paramount Pictures, during a press meeting with Korean journalists in Connecticut on Sunday local time.

When asked what will differentiate Paramount Korea from existing theme parks Everland and Lotte World, Granaroli said it is the storytelling power that the company has.

“We are storytellers. We create movies and contents, and have a legacy of storytelling. People love great stories. But I think successful theme parks in the world are mostly based on their intellectual property,” said Granaroli.

“We will continue to add new stories to our theme park, as we will make more movies in the future,” he added.

The attractions will be based on the storylines of globally hit movies such as “Mission Impossible” and “Star Trek” spin-offs, and also have Korean culture and storylines, Paramount said.

“There will be a special show called ‘Dreams of Korea,’ which will include stories and the history of Korea,” said Granaroli, adding that other live entertainment shows including day and night parades will be designed to keep visitors extend duration of visit.

A number of attractions will be K-pop-themed, where they will be operated along with music and performances, according to Paramount.

“Every ride (at the K-pop-themed zone) will have K-pop music onboard. This area will be like a K-pop music festival,” said Granaroli, adding that the iconic water roller-coaster which plays K-pop will be called Idol.

Other major attractions will be derived from scenes from movies including “Mission Impossible,” “Italian Job,” Tomb Raider” and more, with 4D technology, stuntmen’s live performance and racing track experience, Paramount said.

The US film company said it will revive the Hollywood boulevard at its main gate called Paramount Gate, which will lead to the Paramount Boulevard. Restaurants and cafe streets will offer a Southern California atmosphere.

Currently under construction, the Inspire Integrated Entertainment Resort in Incheon is aiming for the $1.6 billion-worth first phase opening in 2022.

Sources: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20191105000613 and https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2019/12/281_278685.html and https://www.queen.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=321228 and https://hankookilbo.com/News/Read/201911051415069398 and https://www.airport.kr/co/ko/cmm/cmmBbsView.do?FNCT_CODE=121&NTT_ID=24164 and http://www.traveldaily.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=22911 and http://www.mediaic.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=40814 and https://www.news1.kr/election613/news/articles/?3761315 and https://airport.khan.kr/entry/%EA%B4%80%EA%B4%91-%ED%97%88%EB%B8%8C-%EB%82%A0%EA%B0%9C-%EB%8B%AC-%EC%9D%B8%EC%B2%9C%EA%B3%B5%ED%95%AD-%EB%B3%B5%ED%95%A9%EB%A6%AC%EC%A1%B0%ED%8A%B8%C2%B7%ED%85%8C%EB%A7%88%ED%8C%8C%ED%81%AC-%E2%80%98%EC%B2%AD%EC%82%AC%EC%A7%84%E2%80%99 and https://sentv.co.kr/news/view/563395 and Blooloop and https://www.himec.co.kr/result/project.php?ptype=view&idx=1291&page=1&code=project_board&category=8

Continuation of Paramount Pictures' theme park announcement in Korea.

Phase 1A of Inspire’s multi-phased development on just more than 420 acres (1,700,000㎡) of Incheon Airport’s 1,079-acre (4,367,000㎡) IBC-III parcel of land includes:

A 5-star resort hotel with over 1,250 rooms, suites and villas
A 15,000-seat state-of-the-art concert and sports arena
Casino space offering 150 table games and 700 slots/electronic games
A hemispherical dome featuring over 48,000 square-feet (4,500㎡) of climate-controlled indoor pool space with rides, dining and retail
Approximately 204,000 square-feet (19,000㎡) of conference and convention space including the largest hotel ballroom in Incheon/Seoul at 60,460 square-feet (5,617㎡)
Groundbreaking is scheduled for May 2019 and official opening planned for 2022
Inspire’s phase 1B includes the over 99-acre (404,000m2) Paramount Picture-branded theme park with connecting entertainment and retail village scheduled to open in 2025.

Seems that the Paramount Korean theme park project is coming back.

Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment's multibillion-dollar, multi-phase integrated entertainment resort (IER) currently in development in South Korea, Inspire Integrated Entertainment Resort (Inspire), and Paramount Pictures Corporation (Paramount) announce a strategic partnership to incorporate a Paramount Pictures-branded theme park as part of Northeast Asia's largest IER expansion underway in the Incheon International Airport's (IIAC) IBC-III Region.

"We are proud to have Paramount Pictures join us as a strategic partner in the development of our innovative integrated entertainment resort concept," said Kevin Brown, Chairman of the Mohegan Tribe and MGE Management Board. "With Paramount alongside as we answer the demand of today's consumers, the Inspire IER model not only displays our commitment to trend-setting in this industry but also demonstrates the Mohegan Tribe's commitment to growing South Korea's travel, tourism and workforce development goals, while securing the generational sustainability of the Mohegan Tribe."


Kevin Suh, EVP Themed Entertainment for Paramount says, "Paramount is proud to announce Korea as one of the first locations for a world-class Paramount branded theme park. Paramount looks forward to its partnership with Inspire and to be part of one of the world's premiere entertainment destinations at Inspire."

"We are pleased to have the major global force in entertainment, Paramount, on our impressive and growing list of strategic partners for Project Inspire," said Mario Kontomerkos, Chief Executive Officer for Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment. "Aligning with highly sought after and recognized brands with mutual goals is a key component to the creation of the world's first true integrated entertainment resort."

Source: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mohegan-gaming--entertainment-partners-to-bring-a-paramount-pictures-branded-theme-park-to-inspire-integrated-entertainment-resort-300761066.html