Universal Studios Beijing
| File:Universal Studios Beijing Concept Art.jpg Concept Art | |
| Location | Liyuan Town, Tongzhou District, Beijing, China |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°51′19″N 116°40′25″E / 39.8552201°N 116.6736889°E |
| Opened | Spring 2021 (scheduled)[1] |
| Owner | Beijing Shouhuan Cultural Tourism Investment NBCUniversal (Comcast) |
| Operated by | Beijing Shouhuan Cultural Tourism Investment Universal Parks & Resorts |
| Theme | Show business Universal works |
| Area | 130 acres (53 ha) |
| Website | https://www.universalbeijingresort.com/en/home |
Universal Studios Beijing (Chinese: 北京环球影城) is an upcoming Universal theme park in Beijing that will open in Spring 2021[1] as part of Universal Beijing Resort. The park would become the fifth Universal Studios-branded theme park in the world, the 7th Universal-built park overall, and the third in Asia, after Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Singapore.
The project was announced on October 13, 2014 with the plan to invest 20 billion RMB ($3.3 billion in U.S. dollars) into the new theme park and a groundbreaking ceremony was held on October 31, 2016. It will feature attractions themed primarily to Universal-owned movies, TV shows, animation, and music, as well as licensed properties from other companies (e.g., Warner Bros., Dr. Seuss Enterprises, Paramount Pictures, etc.)
History
It was reported back in March 2012 that officials from Comcast and it subsidiary NBCUniversal were meeting with the city of Tianjin (China's sixth largest city) to discuss a possible Universal park in the port city. Previously, there are said to have been many on and off again discussions for building a possible Universal theme park in China over the years going back to when Hong Kong Disneyland was first announced. On January 7, 2014, Shanghai Securities News reported that an application to begin construction on a Universal Studios park in the Tongzhou District of Beijing was filed, with work to begin in late 2014 on this $2 billion project. Demolition of existing structures had already begun, with a goal of opening the park in 2018. Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts predicted that they expected to take marketshare away from Disney Parks, Experiences and Products chains with their plans to invest in their Universal Studios theme parks. In regards to the competition, Roberts said “We’re doubling down on theme parks. We think that there is a lot of 'there' there in the theme-park business for many years to come and that we have a low market share — and only one way to go."[2]
On October 13, 2014, Universal Parks & Resorts CEO Thomas L. Williams announced they signed a deal to build Universal Studios Beijing and is scheduled to open in 2019 instead. The overall investment in the theme park will be more than 20 billion RMB ($3.3 billion in U.S. dollars). It will be jointly owned by Beijing Shouhuan Cultural Tourism Investment Co., Ltd. (BSH Investment), a consortium of four state-owned companies, and Universal Parks & Resorts. Estimated at about 1,000 acre of Beijing property, it will include an assortment of attractions in the 300 acre theme park from other Universal theme parks as well as new attractions that reflects China's cultural heritage. Outside the theme park, there will be a Universal CityWalk retail/dining zone as well as a themed Universal resort hotel.[3] No attractions were officially revealed when the project was first announced, although many speculated that they would include popular attractions from Universal-owned assets such as Jurassic World, The Land Before Time, King Kong, Despicable Me, Shrek, Madagascar, The Mummy, Waterworld, and The Fast and the Furious, as well as third party properties such as Harry Potter, Transformers, Men in Black, ', Nature Cat, Sesame Street, Peanuts, and those based on books from Dr. Seuss Enterprises.
On October 31, 2016, the park broke ground, while also announcing that the opening had been delayed from 2019 until 2020.[4][5] The construction will create approximately 40,000 new jobs. According to Duan Qiang, Chairman of Beijing Tourism Group, one of the shareholders of Beijing Shouhuan, the first phase of the park will provide between 8,000 and 10,000 jobs. Around 1/3 of the attractions at the $3.3 billion park will be themed on Chinese culture and the first phase will occupy an area of 1.59 square kilometres in Tongzhou, including two hotels offering 1,200 to 1,400 rooms. One hotel will reportedly be Universal-branded while the other will carry the NUO brand. More Chinese elements, such as fireworks and parades, are planned for phase two and three in the future.[6]
Park layout
Universal Studios Beijing is approximately 54 hectares (130 acres) in size, occupying the northeastern-most part of the 400-hectare (990-acre) Universal Beijing Resort.[7] Currently the theme park's full collection of attractions has yet to be announced but over time all of the park's zones and select rides have been revealed.[8] The park consists of eight themed zones surrounding a lake. Each zone is mostly based on a movie, book, or television series. Because this theme park is still in development details about the park's layout is subject to change. On May 2, 2018, Fast & Furious: Supercharged became the first specific ride to be confirmed for this park.[9] The ride's themed zone was not announced.
| Themed Zone | Notes |
|---|---|
| Hollywood | Themed after the real Hollywood Boulevard of the 1970s. This area also acts as the entryway to the rest of the park. |
| Jurassic World | Themed after the Jurassic World movie franchise. |
| The Great Valley | Themed after The Land Before Time movie franchise. |
| Waterworld | Themed after Waterworld. First Universal theme park to have a dedicated Waterworld themed zone. |
| Kung Fu Panda | Themed after DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda movie series. |
| The Wizarding World of Harry Potter | Themed after the Harry Potter book and film series. |
| Transformers | Themed after the Transformers media franchise. |
| Minions/Despicable Me | Themed after Illumination's Minions and Despicable Me franchise. Second Universal theme park to have a Despicable Me themed zone after Universal Studios Japan. |
References
- ^ a b https://www.takefoto.cn/viewnews-1717209.html
- ^ Garcia, Jason (January 7, 2014). "Comcast takes aim at Disney in theme-park battle". Orlando Sentinel.
- ^ "Universal Theme Park and Resorts Planned for Beijing".
- ^ Schwankert, Steven (1 November 2016). "Universal Studios Breaks Ground on Beijing Park, Opening Postponed Yet Again". www.thebeijinger.com. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ^ Storey, Ken. "Looks like Universal Studios will actually build that new theme park in Beijing". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ^ "Universal Beijing theme park to add 40,000 jobs". Ecns.cn. 14 March 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
- ^ "Universal Theme Park and Resort Planned for Beijing". Comcast. 2014-10-13.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "BSH China Universal Studios Beijing Project". Zawya. Thomson Reuters.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Niles, Robert (May 2, 2018). "The Fast & Furious family comes home, at Universal Orlando". Theme Park Insider.