Hawk-eyed Katniss Everdeen and her evil nemesis President Snow are set to become Dubai's newest residents after a deal to create a theme park inspired by the billion-dollar grossing film franchise.
The operator Dubai Parks and Resorts said on Tuesday it is partnering the Canadian-American entertainment company Lionsgate to bring The Hunger Games franchise, which is also a best-selling book series, to its Hollywood-themed attraction Motiongate Dubai. The final film in the franchise, Mockingjay – Part 2, is scheduled for release at the end of this year. A Lionsgate zone will also feature a live stage show based on its Step Up film series. Motiongate, which is scheduled to open in October 2016, is expected to attract more than three million visits a year to its 27-ride "journey of films”.
Along with the 4 million square feet Motiongate, Dubai Parks and Resorts will also operate a Legoland and a Bollywood-themed attraction, connected by a retail, dining and entertainment walkway called Riverland. Dubai Parks and Resorts, a unit of Meraas Holdings, reported an annual loss of Dh21 million for 2014, compared with a loss of Dh13m for 2013. The company's total asset base grew to Dh6.88bn at the end of December.
The Dh10.5bn project, comprising the three theme parks, is part of Dubai's 2020 vision, which seeks to attract 20 million tourists a year to the emirate by 2020.
Dubai Parks and Resorts announced in January that it had commenced construction for the Dreamworks zone, a 730,000 sq. ft. area housing 12 attractions and rides, which will form part of Motiongate Dubai.
The company secured a Dh4.2bn finance facility, arranged by Goldman Sachs, in November, and raised Dh2.5bn via a share offering on the Dubai stock exchange in December. Meraas has promised to fund any cost overruns for the park's construction through interest-free shareholder loans.
Despite being six times oversubscribed, Dubai Parks and Resorts shares suffered after debuting on the Dubai Financial Market during a major sell-off, in which the headline index fell by 12 per cent in December.
Yesterday, shares of Dubai Parks and Resorts closed up 0.7 per cent at 85.6 fils. They gained 17.2 per cent for the first quarter but are down 14.4 per cent since launch.
Source: The National