A reported Dragon Ball theme park in France has hit an unexpected roadblock after Toei Animation publicly stated that neither it nor the other Japanese rights holders had granted a license for the project. The clarification comes shortly after France and Saudi Arabia announced plans for a major Dragon Ball Z-themed amusement park near Paris.
Toei Animation issued its statement on August 31, directly addressing reports that a Dragon Ball theme park would be constructed in France. The company said that it and the other rights holders “have not granted any licenses” for the reported project and were not aware of any such plans.
Dragon Ball Theme Park Images Were From the Saudi Arabian Project
The confusion appears to have partly come from promotional material used in reports about the French proposal. According to Toei Animation, the concept images and videos circulating alongside the reports were actually created for the Dragon Ball theme park planned for Qiddiya City in Saudi Arabia.
That project was officially announced in March 2024 in partnership with Qiddiya Investment Company and licensed by Toei Animation and other relevant parties. The Saudi Arabian park is planned to cover more than 500,000 square meters and feature more than 30 attractions across seven themed areas, including a roughly 70-meter-tall Shenron landmark.
The French proposal was announced separately as part of a €6 billion ($7 billion) France-Saudi Arabia partnership, with the planned location northwest of Paris. Reuters reported that the project was expected to become one of Europe’s largest planned theme parks, although no opening date had been announced.
For now, however, Toei Animation’s statement makes clear that the reported French Dragon Ball theme park does not have a license from the Japanese rights holders. This also means the widely circulated Saudi concept artwork should not be interpreted as official designs for a future French attraction.
