A still from the movie trailer for Jurassic World. Source: YouTube
MOVE over Clive Palmer, China’s richest man may be planning a multi-billion dollar dinosaur theme park on the Gold Coast.
Wanda chief executive Wang Jianlin, who has flagged building a “major” theme park on the Coast, is reportedly chasing a majority share of Legendary Entertainment — the company which produced Jurassic World.
The takeover bid is part of Wanda’s global mission to enter the multi-billion dollar film production and attraction park industry after recently acquiring Hoyts cinema chain and AMC Entertainment Holdings.
China’s $37 billion man would need to stump up at least half of Legendary Entertainment’s $4 billion net worth to gain majority share, according to Bloomberg.
An artist's impression of a proposed Jurassic-era themed nature park for Cairns. It could resemble one proposed for the Coast.Source:Supplied
Citi group equity researchers told the Gold Coast Bulletin the theme park would be a massive tourism drawcard which would potentially boost overall Gold Coast theme park attendance by 10 per cent — to 10.9 million — in its first year of trade.
However, Citi released an independent report which revealed existing theme parks Dreamworld, (Ardent Leisure) Movie World and Sea World (Village Roadshow) would need an extra five million people a year to make up for lost market share.
A spokesman for State Development Minister Anthony Lynham said the government could not comment on negotiations with the Wanda Group due to “commercial-in-confidence”.
The city’s business community also welcomed a new theme park.
Northern Chamber of Commerce president Gary Mays said the development would develop “sweeping benefits” to the entire city.
A still from the movie Jurassic World.Source:No Source
Billionaire Wang Jianlin. Photo: Tomohiro Ohsumi/BloombergSource:Supplied
“We need this to happen,” he said.
“It will create heaps of fulltime jobs which is a priority now and bring in more international tourists.
“If we don’t keep reinventing ourselves, we will be left behind.”
Tourism Minister Kate Jones, who recently visited a Wanda theme park in China, said she wanted to see the city’s home parks go “from strength to strength”.
“We’re working with the local tourism industry to grow the number of visitors holidaying on the Gold Coast,” she said.
“We want to see more visitors through the gates of our theme parks because we know that means jobs for Queenslanders.”
Legendary has reportedly been chasing around $700 million in investments to finance a series of top-of-the-line films.
The company is responsible for box office hits Interstellar and Godzilla.
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.
At the time he said the Coast was the “perfect” location.
“Wanda in Australia has already acquired the biggest cinema company in the country and theme parks are one of the things Wanda wants to invest in the future,” Mr Xie said.
“It is Wanda’s intention to set a theme park up on the Gold Coast but this major project is still under negotiation with the State Government.”
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