NEWS: Reliance, Universal eye theme park in India

[Airtime&Gravity]

(Reuters) - India's Reliance ADA Group is in talks with Universal Studios to build a $1.5 billion, 400 acre theme park and resort in India, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday citing a person familiar with the matter.

 

Reliance's Big Entertainment unit and Universal, a unit of General Electric Co's NBC Universal could reach a deal this year, although one person familiar with the matter warned the talks were at an early stage and could break down, the newspaper reported.

 

Reliance ADA is controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani.

 

The newspaper cited a source as saying that Reliance ADA would have full ownership of the venture but would pay Universal royalties and fees for using content linked to popular movies like "Jaws," "E.T.," "Spider-Man" and the "Harry Potter" franchise.

 

The park would look much like Universal's parks in Los Angeles, Orlando, Fla., and Japan, with a variety of roller coasters and rides, shops with movie-related merchandise and nearby hotels.

 

Universal declined comment and officials for Reliance were not immediately available.

 

The main cities being considered for the park are New Delhi and Mumbai, according to the report.

 

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[bellhop96]

I think that this is a bad idea. Dont get me wrong, I love the Universal company (movies and parks) and have visited the Universal Resort in Florida several times and the Hollywood resort once. I however have noticed that the newer parks arent different enough from the originals. Florida, Hollywood and Japan have similar rides and the new Singapore park is quite similar apart from the new Battlestar Galactica and Madagascar attractions. My point is that there is not much more they can do. Florida has Disaster and Hollywood has Earthquake on The Studio Tour, same thing. Florida has Twister and singapore has Lights, Camera, Action (Hurricane) and Backdraft (Warehouse fire) has been done, what more is there? I love Universal but please guys stop building new parks, just focus on making the current (not old) parks better!

[FeelTheFORCE]

^ I think the Universals here are pretty damn good. They did just add HRRR and Harry Potter in Florida, and King Kong in Hollywood didn't they? Seems like they are giving those parks plenty of attention. How is it any different from Six Flags adding multiple B:TRs, Dark Knights, etc. to various parks around the country? Also, how many people that regularly go to USF go to USH, or USJ, and vice versa?

[coasterer]

This is really interesting news. I was just there, and wondering how long it would take for India to get a major theme park. With over a billion people, almost all of whom might travel to Bombay or Delhi anyway to visit family, and with their economy currently growing outrageously at like 8 or 9% a year, it only seems natural that the theme park industry start to develop as well, along with the rest of the country.

 

I think a park like Universal can cater to a much larger demographic than the current Indian theme parks, which just frankly aren't up to an international standard. BUT, I feel like trying to build a park out of exclusively Universal owned movies - ET, Spiderman, Mummy, Harry Potter - is a mistake. While a place like India does like Western films to an extent, they aren't NEARLY as renowned as some of their Bollywood films and stars. Harry Potter world wouldn't fly in a country like India, where as every single person knows and is obsessed with Shahrukh Khan. But I'm definitely excited to see how this unfolds!!