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[🌎 Universal GB] General Discussion

GooseOnTheLoose said:
Apple notoriously hates purchasing other companies' baggage, preferring instead to build their own walled gardens from scratch. Buying Warner Bros. Discovery would saddle them with roughly $40 billion in debt and a legacy cable network infrastructure (CNN, TNT, etc.) that is antithetical to their business model. They sit on a cash pile large enough to buy Disney outright if they wanted to, but they don't buy decline. Apple buy technology and talent.

I find it rather amusing that you cite Netflix as the "worst option" for cinemas, while championing Apple as the saviour. Apple has just aggressively pivoted away from wide theatrical releases. They pulled the wide cinema release for Wolfs at the eleventh hour, relegating George Clooney and Brad Pitt to a streaming tile, and have signalled a major retreat from the box office for their future slate. They run a streaming service, just like Netflix; they are not the guardians of the picture house.

Once again though, we are in danger of waddling too far off the path.

The relevance to Universal Great Britain remains the same. A Netflix purchase of WBD makes securing the Harry Potter theme park rights for the UK significantly more complex, if not impossible. Universal would be negotiating with a direct rival who is now actively entering the location based entertainment space (as noted by @jon81uk regarding Netflix House), and who would inherit a Wizarding World themed attraction of their own within relative spitting distance of the UK development.

It seems increasingly likely that the Bedford project will have to rely on Nintendo, Illumination and DreamWorks to do the heavy lifting, rather than a certain boy wizard.

Away from the fantasy of IP acquisitions and back to the cold hard reality of Westminster, it is worth remembering that Parliament rises for the Christmas recess on 18th December. The SDO cannot be laid before the House until the Ministry has finished reviewing the consultation responses, and it is likely that this is very much still ongoing.

The consultation only closed on 31st August. We are barely three months post-consultation. A project of this magnitude, involving a massive Environmental Impact Assessment, will have the Civil Service painstakingly cross-referencing every objection to bulletproof the decision against a potential Judicial Review. As an SDO bypasses local democracy, it is legally fragile. If they miss a single procedural step, a local resident (or a rival operator *cough* Merlin *cough) could have the whole order quashed in the High Court. They are not going to rush this phase.

If you need a reference for how slowly the wheels of infrastructure planning turn, look no further than the Lower Thames Crossing. That decision alone was delayed multiple times by the Department for Transport, stretching the post-examination decision phase to well over a year. Expecting MHCLG to process a massive theme park application in twelve weeks is optimistic in the extreme... Sorry to put a downer on the festive cheer.

With fewer than ten days of the legislative session remaining, there is pretty much zero chance of the Statutory Instrument being processed before the turkeys are carved. We are looking at January 5th, at the very earliest, for any movement on the planning permission... Though I'd be happy to have egg on my face with this prediction, as it would be nice to have something to look forward to. Even if it is going to cost us at least ÂŁ500m of tax payer's money.
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Apple in their current form are making prestige TV, like the HBO glory days. That’s why imo they’d have been the best option as quality wise they’re well up there and beyond Netflix who just pump stuff out endlessly then cancel things without notice. ATV have commissions additional seasons to their shows that Netflix would have cancelled.

ATV wouldn’t buy WB no, they don’t want the linear tv side of it as they like to largely look apolitical. If that side of the business was spun off which was rumoured maybe they’d be more interested, but if they’re going to purchase anything it’ll no doubt be something like A24.

Apple put F1 through a theatrical release and it performed extremely well so they’re not opposed to theatrical releases.

Netflix are awful and tbh so are Paramount but if it’s to be one I’d say paramount are the least worse option.

Netflix not long ago said people want to watch stuff at home and theatres are the old way of doing things. I’d believe what they say and ignore their new quite obvious lies they’re parroting in order to purchase WB. As soon as they can stop showing things in cinemas they will.
 
Blackrock said:
Apple in their current form are making prestige TV, like the HBO glory days. That’s why imo they’d have been the best option as quality wise they’re well up there and beyond Netflix who just pump stuff out endlessly then cancel things without notice. ATV have commissions additional seasons to their shows that Netflix would have cancelled.

ATV wouldn’t buy WB no, they don’t want the linear tv side of it as they like to largely look apolitical. If that side of the business was spun off which was rumoured maybe they’d be more interested, but if they’re going to purchase anything it’ll no doubt be something like A24.

Apple put F1 through a theatrical release and it performed extremely well so they’re not opposed to theatrical releases.

Netflix are awful and tbh so are Paramount but if it’s to be one I’d say paramount are the least worse option.
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Neither Apple or Netflix are significantly relasing theatrically, generally its only for a week or two so it is eligible for the awards. Yes F1 the movie had a larger release window but there hasn't been many other similar examples.

Netflix are not interested in purchasing the linear TV from WBD either, that will be its own spinoff, Netflix only want the film and TV studio and the back catalogue, this is the main value to them as they currently license Friends and Big Bang Theory etc from WB. I doubt Apple are even interested in the back catalogue, they don't currently have any back catalogue of streaming except their own Originals.
 
jon81uk said:
Neither Apple or Netflix are significantly relasing theatrically, generally its only for a week or two so it is eligible for the awards. Yes F1 the movie had a larger release window but there hasn't been many other similar examples.

Netflix are not interested in purchasing the linear TV from WBD either, that will be its own spinoff, Netflix only want the film and TV studio and the back catalogue, this is the main value to them as they currently license Friends and Big Bang Theory etc from WB. I doubt Apple are even interested in the back catalogue, they don't currently have any back catalogue of streaming except their own Originals.
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I don’t think Apple would be interested because they probably wouldn’t want their service cluttered with absolute dirge when they’re trying to curate their own shows tbh. But they have money to burn if they wanted to go for WB or any other studio for that matter.

Comcast from a theme park point of view would have been the best option though.
 
Blackrock said:
Apple in their current form are making prestige TV, like the HBO glory days. That’s why imo they’d have been the best option as quality wise they’re well up there and beyond Netflix who just pump stuff out endlessly then cancel things without notice. ATV have commissions additional seasons to their shows that Netflix would have cancelled.

ATV wouldn’t buy WB no, they don’t want the linear tv side of it as they like to largely look apolitical. If that side of the business was spun off which was rumoured maybe they’d be more interested, but if they’re going to purchase anything it’ll no doubt be something like A24.

Apple put F1 through a theatrical release and it performed extremely well so they’re not opposed to theatrical releases.

Netflix are awful and tbh so are Paramount but if it’s to be one I’d say paramount are the least worse option.

Netflix not long ago said people want to watch stuff at home and theatres are the old way of doing things. I’d believe what they say and ignore their new quite obvious lies they’re parroting in order to purchase WB. As soon as they can stop showing things in cinemas they will.
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Paramount in its current set-up would be terrible as they have no interest in the creative film industry anymore, they only want WB so they can get their hands on CNN. The Ellison family who own Paramount now are right wing nut jobs who want to further control the news media to spout the usual right wing, socially conservative lies Fox and others have been spouting for years.

Netflix are at the moment vaguely apolitical.
 

From: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=831849626145988&set=a.125326720131619

It's always a great afternoon when I get to spend time in Borough Hall with the Universal Destinations and Experiences senior team. Lots to catch up with, and also share with them. There was a lot of excitement about the new floor they are renting in Borough Hall, and we look forward to them moving in early next year.
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They seem pretty confident that they are getting the SDO, they have rented office space in Bedford Council HQ!
 
So with an SDO they can literally do what ever they want.

I am wondering if Universal will have any noise or height restrictions like Chessington, Towers and Paultons does
 
Hid said:
So with an SDO they can literally do what ever they want.

I am wondering if Universal will have any noise or height restrictions like Chessington, Towers and Paultons does
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I see Schrödinger's Thoosie has reared its head again.

If they "can literally do whatever they want", there wouldn't be any noise or height restrictions. They cannot both "do literally whatever they want" and have there still be restrictions.

Back in reality, they will not be able to literally do whatever they want, there will be restrictions. We do not know what they are yet.
 
Hid said:
So with an SDO they can literally do what ever they want.

I am wondering if Universal will have any noise or height restrictions like Chessington, Towers and Paultons does
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So as a starter for 10 you can probably expect the SDO to look a lot like the ones you have in place at the other theme parks around the UK, like what we see at Alton Towers

You can find the details of what the relevant legislation says is permitted development with an area defined as an amusement park in Schedule 2, Part 18, Class B of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015. They really aren't that complicated at their heart, within an area designated as an Amusement Park, you can build:
  • Rides and associated machinery up to a height of 25m
  • 'Booths and stalls' up to 5m
For reference, if you had a large plot of land with a standard Amusement Park GDO in place you could go ahead a building probably 90%+ of a park like Alton Towers or Blackpool Pleasure Beach, as the rides all tend to fit within the required envelope.

The main point of negotiation between Universal, the Local Government and Central Government will be defining the area that will be defined as the 'amusement park', as once that's defined it basically sets you up to build the majority of what is needed without requiring any further planning permission.

The other place that will be of particular interest in the SDO is any areas classed as a 'Modified GDO'. Typically, this will change the height restrictions of certain areas. At Alton Towers, for example, several areas also restrict the height of rides to no more than 5m, unless specific planning permission is approved. Much of CBeebies Land, falls under this type of Modified GDO

At Universal, it is likely the most interest will come from areas where the 25m limit is either increased or decreased as part of the SDO, as this will give an indication of where the park's signature coaster are likely to be vs the park's more sedate offerings. For example, you might see some areas with a 5m restriction closer to nearby residential areas, indicating an area that might be more suitable for kiddie rides as opposed to coasters. And then less restrictions in other areas where Universal wants to build big, and the government agrees it is acceptable to do so without additional planning permission.
 
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