France and Saudi Arabia signed a memorandum of understanding on August 24, 2026, for a €6 billion (US$7 billion) Saudi investment to build three theme parks near Paris, one of which will be themed around the Dragon Ball Z manga franchise [1, 2, 3, 4].
The Dragon Ball Z park will be located near Cergy-Pontoise, about 30 kilometers northwest of Paris. It is expected to be among the largest theme park developments in Europe [1, 2, 3, 4]. French regional authorities spent about 18 months preparing for the project before the signing [5, 6, 7].
The investment is financed by Qiddiya, a Saudi entertainment and investment group that is a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund [1, 8, 9, 3, 4]. The project is estimated to create around 22,000 jobs [1, 9, 3, 4].
French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s shared enthusiasm for Dragon Ball Z sparked the idea during Macron’s 2025 visit to Saudi Arabia [1, 8, 9, 3, 4]. Macron said, “Vous connaissez mon intérêt pour les mangas. Vous savez aussi ma détermination à attirer en France les investissements qui créent des emplois et rendent possibles les projets les plus ambitieux” and added, “We will continue to amaze the world” [4].
Valerie Pecresse, head of the Ile-de-France region, described the project as “on the scale of Disneyland” and noted the importance of the agreement signed on the day of the first Saudi-French strategic partnership council meeting [5, 4].
The other two theme parks near Paris included in the deal have undisclosed themes [2, 3, 4]. Construction is expected to take several years, and an opening date has not yet been announced [1, 8, 9, 3, 4].
Saudi Arabia has previously invested heavily in entertainment, including a Dragon Ball theme park near Riyadh in Qiddiya City and stakes in gaming companies [8, 9, 10]. Macron hosted the Saudi Crown Prince the day before the signing at the Esports World Cup closing ceremony in Paris, underlining the growing cultural and economic partnership [5, 6, 7, 9, 3].
