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Potential New Universal UK Park

tayspru said:
The HBO series, a lot of it is coming from JKR’s funds directly as she no longer wants the original trio to be the faces of the brand, due to their ongoing support for Trans people

As for the UK, it’s a brand new park, a brand new market, and we could get something never seen before. No HP keeps the Orlando parks aspirational by offering something different
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Osaka and Beijing both have Universal HP worlds and they're only a few hours apart (not to mention the Warners HP studio in Tokyo and upcoming HP world at Warners in UAE). And of course there are 2 HP worlds in the US. I really don't think there's much merit in the infringing market discussion when multiple closer parks seemingly happily co-exist. Plus they can easily be differentiated with varying rides if that's a concern.

Yes Orlando has a percentage of UK visitors but the potential new market in the UK alone let alone Europe completely dwarfs that. It's the equivalent of saying DLP shouldn't have the same areas as WDW.

#MicDrop
 
tayspru said:
The HBO series, a lot of it is coming from JKR’s funds directly as she no longer wants the original trio to be the faces of the brand, due to their ongoing support for Trans people
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Sorry to jam this thread, but unless you can cite a source for this, I'm going to have to call this as nonsense. It's a remake of the seven original books, so those actors will be recast, not the faces of it. The notion that Rowling is herself funding a huge HBO series out of her own pocket in order to assure an agenda is not how television works. She has negotiated an Executive Producer role on the series, so will play a role in overseeing the content as she sees fit, which admittedly could be problematic for Warner Bros at some point, given her views and their desire to keep the brand relevant.

But just like a theme park license, the money will be flowing straight toward Rowling, not from her. An antisemitic goblin caricature bank's worth of it, to be accurate.
 
Bowser said:
Osaka and Beijing both have Universal HP worlds and they're only a few hours apart (not to mention the Warners HP studio in Tokyo and upcoming HP world at Warners in UAE). And of course there are 2 HP worlds in the US. I really don't think there's much merit in the infringing market discussion when multiple closer parks seemingly happily co-exist. Plus they can easily be differentiated with varying rides if that's a concern.

Yes Orlando has a percentage of UK visitors but the potential new market in the UK alone let alone Europe completely dwarfs that. It's the equivalent of saying DLP shouldn't have the same areas as WDW.

#MicDrop
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All we know so far from the sources that originally investigated USGB (Alicia Stella for example) points towards Universal themselves saying that they don’t want to build something they’ve got somewhere else

As for the HBO series, Rowling approached HBO - not the other way round
 
tayspru said:
All we know so far from the sources that originally investigated USGB (Alicia Stella for example) points towards Universal themselves saying that they don’t want to build something they’ve got somewhere else

As for the HBO series, Rowling approached HBO - not the other way round
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That’s actually incorrect.

Warner/HBO have been pestering JK for years, they’re the ones who need the money, I mean have you seen their financials?

JK has always refused because she doesn’t want anyone else to create new stories within her world, not yet anyway.

That’s why they’re essentially rebooting it as it was the only thing she’d agree to. And tbh it’ll work well as a series and if it’s a success maybe then there’ll be spinoffs.

But she’s certainly not paying for it. She’s rich but she’s not $250M per series rich.

She has a stake in the production company but again she isn’t funding it, HBO are.
 
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Bowser said:
Osaka and Beijing both have Universal HP worlds and they're only a few hours apart (not to mention the Warners HP studio in Tokyo and upcoming HP world at Warners in UAE). And of course there are 2 HP worlds in the US. I really don't think there's much merit in the infringing market discussion when multiple closer parks seemingly happily co-exist. Plus they can easily be differentiated with varying rides if that's a concern.
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In fairness, travel between the PRC and outside East Asian nations for Chinese citizens is far more restrictive and tricky than it is for, say, UK residents visiting other Western nations; likewise accessing the PRC is more of a faff for westerners than visa-free nations like Japan. Osaka and Beijing being very similar is more because Beijing is for the Chinese domestic market, whereas Osaka being in Japan is easier for the wider non China Asia-Pacific market at large to access.
 
Another POV, a lot of the UK is skint, many won’t pay Universal prices for Potter when they can just go to the studio tour for what they perceive as a similar experience

To wrap this up, as far as any speculation goes, I’ll stick with Alicia Stella. For anyone who forgot, she broke the story of the whole project along with concept leaks well before any of this was public.

She says no copies from Orlando - I believe her
 
tayspru said:
Another POV, a lot of the UK is skint, many won’t pay Universal prices for Potter when they can just go to the studio tour for what they perceive as a similar experience

To wrap this up, as far as any speculation goes, I’ll stick with Alicia Stella. For anyone who forgot, she broke the story of the whole project along with concept leaks well before any of this was public.

She says no copies from Orlando - I believe her
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I also believe her. But it sounds like the reason they’re not having HP is a rights/financial issue rather than a JK/brand issue.
 
Alicia Stella could well have meant “no attraction copies from Orlando” rather than “no IP copies from Orlando”, though. I imagine that this is probably what Alicia Stella meant.

I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up seeing some existing IP from Orlando, but in the form of a new, unique attraction or an attraction from a Universal resort other than Orlando. For instance, I could see them going for something like the Jurassic World Adventure dark ride from Beijing.

If you rule out using any IP that is present in Orlando, you’re not left with much from Universal’s IP base. If they don’t use anything from their existing IP base, Universal would likely end up doing what the London Resort did and signing IP deals with loads of “British” names like BBC and ITV. While the IPs from these brands have appeal in Britain, I think that not too many of them, aside from a few notable exceptions, hold strong international appeal.

I think for the park to work best, Universal should get some sort of big “hook” IP on board to really get people flocking. Potter would be an easy, proven way to do this, but if they don’t use Potter, then I think they should try and get something in with equivalent sales power that will print money in the same way that Potter has done and continues to do at existing Universal parks.
 
Indeed she meant no attractions, however Orlando will have all 3 “versions” of WwoHP by the time USGB opens

Jurassic, Illumination, Dreamworks and Nintendo are all very much on the table, as they have options for attractions for all of these that can’t be found in Orlando.

As a “tentpole” IP, Pokemon remains THE biggest media franchises of all time, with a worth of 92 BILLION dollars, yet it has no representation currently in any theme parks.

I’d also be keeping a close eye on legacy British franchises that could be built using existing tech. A great example would be a version of Bourne Stuntacular themed to James Bond. I wouldn’t be surprised if something like Doctor Who would have been in contention prior to Disney taking the streaming rights

I imagine we’ll begin to hear a lot more once the project gets its official go ahead. Epic Universe was officially announced in 2019 and by that point Alicia and others already knew the IP line up. Following a similar timeline of 6 years from announcement to opening we will likely have a good idea of the IPs very soon

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The leaked concept art was from a period where a different site was being considered. Even at this point in the project HP was being omitted, with JW, Starfall Racers, and what looks like Middle Earth all being visible
 
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I would not be surprised if Lord of the Rings ends up coming here. It’s a British IP with international appeal, and Universal have long been said to be seeking the theme park rights to it from the Tolkien estate.

I do wonder, though; do you think it’s popular enough to have that “hook”? It does certainly seem like a successful franchise with an ever-expanding film universe, so it could be, but I’ll confess that I’m not that clued up on LOTR as a franchise.

I do think @tayspru could be onto a good shout with Pokémon as well. Universal were always said to be interested in that IP, and I think it could definitely be popular enough to have that “hook”… but would it perhaps suit one of their Asian parks better? I won’t confess to be too clued up on Pokémon, but I’d imagine that a significant amount of its popularity originates in Asia. How popular actually is Pokémon in Europe?
 
I think the Nintendo themed area of the park will either be Mario Kart or Pokémon themed. I believe they are saving Zelda for Islands of Adventure.

I could also see some sort of studio/ backlot area with individual attractions like the James Bond Stunt show or something Paddington related. Jurassic world and Despicable Me seem to be the two that are pretty much nailed on at this point.
 
Warner Bros. Discovery have a lot of clauses, in their (very old) licencing agreement with Universal, which gives them veto power over the use of The Wizarding World IP in new locations.

I can't see Universal being permitted to use The Wizarding World IP in the UK, when Warner Bros. Discovery have their own plans and attractions for it. Especially with the TV series on the way.

Nothing to do with the author, nothing to do with the franchise's popularity. Everything to do with licencing rights.
 
Zelda will be saved for the second gate and the restoration area that will make creating Hyrule much easier. LOTR is more than enough to anchor the Park as the marquee IP, it has the name and the cultural impact but it is also a brand new IP (outside of New Zealand tourist traps) that no other Park can boast.
 
Bowser said:
What do people think would be the feature attractions in a LotR area?
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As others have stated the obvious one is a Mines of Moria ride and I've seen some comment that it would be similar tech to the Indiana Jones ride in California Other ideas:

Bilbos Barrel ride - rapids type ride
Flight of the Eagles - some sort of flying coaster
Ride of the Rohirum - another coaster idea simulating the charge to helms deep
Smaug themed ride - Flying theatre
Riddles in the dark - Gollum themed trackless dark ride

I could also see on Halloween Horror nights the Witch King and Ring Raiths roaming the area.

Those are just the ones I can think of but there are loads of themed area ideas as well
 
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