Wanda Group theme parks
Views: 849,200 Subscribe

It would seem being a majority shareholder was not enough for Wanda. They have bought Legendary Entertainment outright for $3.5 billion (USD). Looks like they will be using those IP licenses and making more "monster" films to add to their parks in the future.

The deal announced Tuesday in Beijing significantly expands Wanda’s presence in the global entertainment business, as it now owns one of the largest independent movie companies in Hollywood.

some of its films, including “Godzilla” and “Pacific Rim,” have done particularly well in China, and the company is focused more on such monster movies going forward.

Source: http://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-dalian-wanda-buys-legendary-entertainment-for-3-5-billion-1452567251

Wanda Group, as they are currently chasing a majority share of Legendary Entertainment, is rumored to be planning a Jurassic theme park on the Gold Coast.

The Wanda group has invested significantly on the Gold Coast, launching direct flights to Wuhan last year and financing the $970 million Jewel project in Surfers Paradise.

Wanda Group general manager Xie Hong last year exclusively revealed plans to the Bulletin to build a new theme park on the Gold Coast.

Source:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/business/billionaire-plans-to-open-jurassic-theme-park-on-the-gold-coast/story-fnkltfm0-1227701645543

Wanda Group has made deals to acquire a majority stake in "Legendary Entertainment", the company who produced Godzilla, Jurassic World, Pacific Rim, and more. It should be noted that Universal Pictures and Legendary Entertainment are partners together as they entered the partnership 2 years ago.

(...) and we are also excited about what opportunities this will bring to our theme parks around the world," Universal Studios COO Ron Meyer said in a statement.

That statement brings up a question in my opinion. With Wanda acquiring a majority stake in Legendary, could this mean new theme park attractions based off of their properties?

The main article doesn't specifically mention theme parks, but that the Wanda Group company has a stake in them.

MAIN ARTICLE: http://en.yibada.com/articles/99474/20160107/dalian-wanda-group-acquire-majority-stake-legendary-entertainment-big-step.htm

Your thoughts?

How is this knock-off company thinking it can make so many parks?

Like many of the theme park operators of modern times they make their money in one entertainment industry and then use the money from that sale to buy in theme park talent to run physical parks. Like a Warner Bros or a Universal you simply run it as a separate business with talent bought from other operators. If you have enough money you can simply get other people to do the leg work for you - you want a Disney style park, just buy some Imagineers and pay them more than Disney will.

There was an interesting piece recently about how their planned park on the gold coast may damage the Gold Coast existing parks even if it improves the overall tourist attraction of the area. I have linked below to a piece in the Financial Review about their finances and how they could dramatically change the face of current park operations in areas they operate.

Whether there is longevity in building so many in a short space of time will be the interesting part and if they can produce the quality the markets expect whilst maintaining a profit long term is questionable.

Source: http://www.afr.com/lifestyle/arts-and-entertainment/film-and-tv/could-chinas-dalian-wanda-bring-jurassic-park-to-australia-20160105-gm02x6

How is this knock-off company thinking it can make so many parks?

Sorry that last one should be Wanda Chengdu not Guilin.

@Gutterflower, wow, thank you for the update!

Originally Posted by Anonymous

Can we get a list of ALL Wanda theme parks planned and under construction, together with the respective projected opening dates?

I can try my best

Here's a list from the Wanda stuff at IAAPA.


Wanda Xishuangbanna (Opened October 2015)

Wanda City Nanchang (Opening October 2016)


Wanda City Hefei (Opening 2016)



Wanda City Harbini (Opening 2016)



Wanda City Wuxi (Opening 2017)


Wanda City Guangzhou (Opening 2017)


Wanda City Qingdao (Opening 2017)


Wanda City Guilin (Opening 2017)


Wanda City Guilin (Opening 2018)


Wanda Movie Park Wuhan has its own thread on here and is open and Wanda Changbaishan appears to be a ski resort rather than a theme park.

I got this info from a poorly translated article but to the Chinese-speaking folks out there, I'd like to think these are theme parks in the making.

As far as I can understand, this entertainment complex will be known as "Wanda Cultural Tourism City".



1. "Wanda Mao" (Nanning)


Rendering



An event last October 25, a "main cap ceremony" as described in the article where I got this pic from.



Wanda Harbin-mao



Now, the next pics -- I'm not sure if these are still part of the complex or going to be built in separate places. Please enlighten me here....



Hefei Wanda Theme Park



Nanchang Wanda Theme Park

Thoughts and reactions to this post are welcomed.

Source:
http://biz.ianjia.com/house/22921.html

Can we get a list of ALL Wanda theme parks planned and under construction, together with the respective projected opening dates?