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Potential New Universal UK Park

Mykeprime said:
Apparently confirmed
news.sky.com

Universal Studios confirms plans for first UK attraction - and buys huge site in Bedford to build it

The Hollywood studio has parks in the US, China, Singapore and Japan but UK-based film fans could soon be able to enjoy a Universal attraction without an expensive flight.
news.sky.com news.sky.com
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The BBC are reporting on the story as well with some quotes from a spokesperson as well.

“The UK has a large population, creative industries, strong tourism, and transportation infrastructure with close proximity to other parts of Europe," said the Universal spokeswoman.

The area was chosen, due to its "transportation connectivity to London and Europe with more than half of the UK population within two hours, including just 45 minutes outside of London".

It also highlighted its proximity to Luton Airport

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-67761926
 
There is nothing new in either of the above articles, Universal are just repeating what they already told the Bedford Independent who got the scoop and deserve credit for doing so.

We don’t need to be posting every single article that says the same thing!
 
Rob said:
There is nothing new in either of the above articles, Universal are just repeating what they already told the Bedford Independent who got the scoop and deserve credit for doing so.

We don’t need to be posting every single article that says the same thing!
Click to expand...
Indeed, and those articles are annoying as it's not actually "confirmed". Universal themselves have said in the press release that they have bought the land in order to assess the feasibility of building a theme park on it, and any decision is a few months away yet. They are in the very early stages, I know this is exciting but let's not get carried away just yet!
 
Going to be very interesting 12 months ahead for this project. We will very likely have a new government too in that time so hopefully they get behind the project as it will obviously bring jobs and a huge boost to the local community and businesses.

Whether people that live in the area like theme parks or not..... nobody can argue Universal aren't a huge name and huge attraction for tourism and business.

Be very interesting to see any more plans for the actual park as they are released......

- Definitely think there will be some sort of Potter Verse. Just might be totally different to what exists in Florida right now not to take away from that experience.

- Middle Earth. Build it and they will come from all over the globe. That's how insanely popular it is for so many folk.

- Fast n Furious. I can definitely see them building a major ride or even a dedicated area to the franchise. It's very popular in the UK.

- Transformers. Again I think this is also very likely to come. Popular with all different age groups and lends itself so well to Theme Parks.
 
I'm curious, what is the feasibility of actually running a steam train from Kingscross to this location? I assume that if the line through Bedford runs to St Pancras there must be some form of link between St P and it's neighbour station.
Even if it's not a regular thing and just a one off marketing event that feels like an unmissable opportunity! Would outdo the Galactic Starcruiser as an immerseive experience!
 
I wouldn’t put money on Potter, I would guess Warners deal with Universal is geographical linked and as has already been mentioned studio tour might not want the competition. Plus the HP brand is a little unstable at the moment with the failure of Fantastic beasts and JK Rowling Terf wars.

Not saying it won’t happen just don’t think it’s a given.
 
Minions or Trolls for the kids / family area looks a good bet. HTTYD unlikely given that's going to Epic Universe.

I'm a big fan of the Bond Franchise but I'm just not seeing it being very compatible with theme park rides personally. A dark ride with him drinking Martinis and sleeping with stunning women would definitely get a big queue though I guess......just mostly full of middle aged men. Hahaha
 
Merlin must be quite ruffled by this news it'll be interesting to see what they do as a result it's obvious they wouldn't even try to match universal quality or theming which they wouldn't have to anyway because their day tickets are £35 but they would certainly have to up their game if these plans came to fruition.
 
Hyperia Super Stan said:
I can see Bond (Universal own the film rights), Lord Of The Rings, and a slightly different version of Dark Universe featuring Dr Jekyll and Hyde.
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Amazon bought MGM who make the bond films, Sony used to distribute, then Universal but now Warner Bros

Bond films’ future secured after MGM and WB agree deal | Film | The Guardian

Starting with Bones and All later this year, the two studios will jointly release MGM films in the US, while Warners will handle international releases
amp.theguardian.com amp.theguardian.com

I would expect any theme park license would be a deal between Eon productions, MGM and Universal. It’s possible and I would expect MGM/Eon might license it, but it’s got nothing to do with Universal.
 
Tim said:
I'm curious, what is the feasibility of actually running a steam train from Kingscross to this location? I assume that if the line through Bedford runs to St Pancras there must be some form of link between St P and it's neighbour station.
Even if it's not a regular thing and just a one off marketing event that feels like an unmissable opportunity! Would outdo the Galactic Starcruiser as an immerseive experience!
Click to expand...

AFAIK there's no link between from the Midland Main Line (the Bedford to St Pancras one) to King's Cross and pretty much all of the routes between the MML and ECML south of Bedford and thereabouts no longer exist or would be impractical to use. I agree though it would be amazing piece marketing! Assuming if they can even get Potter in Bedfordshire

For my own wish list of attractions, LOTR would be incredible. I think it wouldn't hurt for Universal to go down a bit of the nostalgic route and have some of their 70s/80s IPs on show. A Jaws related attraction would be nice, and earlier I thought about a Back to the Future launch coaster!
 
Ted said:
AFAIK there's no link between from the Midland Main Line (the Bedford to St Pancras one) to King's Cross and pretty much all of the routes between the MML and ECML south of Bedford and thereabouts no longer exist or would be impractical to use. I agree though it would be amazing piece marketing! Assuming if they can even get Potter in Bedfordshir
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If ever there was a question for @Thameslink Rail this is probably it.
 
Thank You AT86
There is no proper link to the ECML yet, there *might* be one near St Neots if and when the east west rail link between Oxford and Cambridge is built. As it stands there are lots of questions over it's funding but if this project happens then they might find the money.
 
Rob said:
There is nothing new in either of the above articles, Universal are just repeating what they already told the Bedford Independent who got the scoop and deserve credit for doing so.

We don’t need to be posting every single article that says the same thing!
Click to expand...

Actually there seemed to be some additional quotes from the Universal spokesperson in the BBC article that didn’t appear in the Bedford Independant piece which was why I posted it. Personally I think it’s quite interesting to hear the direct quotes from the company involved rather than just speculation.
 
Skyscraper said:
Indeed, and those articles are annoying as it's not actually "confirmed". Universal themselves have said in the press release that they have bought the land in order to assess the feasibility of building a theme park on it, and any decision is a few months away yet. They are in the very early stages, I know this is exciting but let's not get carried away just yet!
Click to expand...
There’s a chance that they could just be saying that publicly, though. There’s a chance that the project may be more advanced behind the scenes than Universal are letting on.
 
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