By Dexter "Box-Office" Reel
Manga is getting its own kingdom outside Paris. France and Saudi Arabia have agreed to a $7 billion investment in three amusement parks near the French capital, and one of them will be built around Dragon Ball Z, the Japanese franchise that turned a scrappy manga about a monkey-tailed boy into a global entertainment empire, according to Al Jazeera.
The theme park pact was signed as part of a broader package of deals — spanning energy, defense, AI, and tourism — struck during Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit to Paris, Al Jazeera reported. Financial and construction specifics beyond the $7 billion topline figure — timeline, location, operating partners — were not detailed in available reporting, and readers should treat those as still to be confirmed.
What's notable here isn't just the price tag. It's the pairing: Saudi capital, French tourism infrastructure, and a Japanese IP with a fan base that spans generations and continents, being stitched together into what amounts to a new European entertainment destination. Dragon Ball Z has never had an official theme park of this scale in Europe, and if it comes together as described, it would plant one of anime's flagship properties in direct competition with Disneyland Paris, just down the road.
It's also one more data point in a trend worth watching: sovereign wealth money increasingly bankrolling the theme-park business, an industry that used to be the province of Disney, Universal, and a handful of legacy operators. Whether a Dragon Ball Z park draws the crowds Saku-based investors are betting on is a question for 2028 or beyond — nothing here is open yet.
Loved it, hated it, or wasted my afternoon — here's which: too early to say. Ask me again when there's a groundbreaking date.
— Compiled from reporting by Al Jazeera.
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