Is Warner Brothers ready for their own theme parks?
Okay, before you roll your eyes. Yes, WB already has rides at Six Flags, Universal Studios and at one time Disney parks. But something has come that has gotten theme park community taken a Hmm look.
According to what some in the community, something is in the air and it’s not unpleasant gas. With the recent merger of AT&T and Warner Studios and opening of WB license new park in Dubai that Theme Park Insider himself has visited. And now a Halloween Horror event plan for WB Hollywood Studio Tour using WB horror ips and DC characters to boot. Some are thinking this is the “so called” smoke or sign in what could be WB dipping their toe back into theme park business on their own. Others pointed to the lack of movement towards Lord of the Rings theme park rights still not is the hands of either Universal or Disney as kinda tell tel sign that WB might be holding on to their ips for a grander project.
Again this is a bunch of hershey and conjecture coming from the community, but does this theory hold water. Some say that the WB Hollywood Tour Horror might even be the sign that Universal could lose a lot of the ips they had played with if WB decides to have their own Halloween Horror using the property they owned.
Other question remains, like what happens if WB pulls Potter at of Universal theme parks for their own park, what happens to Six Flags DC rides, will Warner Bros build new theme parks in Florida and California. Or could they take control of Six Flags like they had in the past.
Now look the only Studio that can match Disney huge ip library is Warner Bros. They can take on the mouse with Looney Tunes, Cartoon Network, Space Jam, Matrix, DC Comics, Conjuring horror shared universe films, Lethal Weapons, TV series like Friends, ER, Supernatural, Buffy, Alf and there’s HBO with Games of Thrones and WestWorld. So if WB wanted to build a theme park using their own ip they can handle the Mouse.
So, what do ya’ll think. I know there some here that have ‘inside sauces”, vets in the industry ,as well as, the usually theme park nerds. But this could happen, not a hell chance, or is this a bunch of BS that worried warts are trying to drum up in case certain rumors don’t pan out.
Warner Bros. has bought Six Flags before, they owned and operated the parks from 1993-1998 then decided it wasn't worth it and sold the parks and opted for licensing deals.
I'm sure it is possible that a new management group would want to get back into the business but at this point their IP is licensed out to so many different parks in different places it would be very complicated. I agree with Robert the only way that would make sense is to buy Six Flags again.
I'm assuming they would probably want to buy the Warner Bros. park in Spain which as far as I know was a flop, i'm not sure how the one in Australia does but they would probably want that one as well.
We saw Warner Bros. and Paramount get in the business then drop out for a reason. If its true WB wants to get back in the business it's entirely possible that a new management group sees the same thing that the old management saw when they made the acquisitions, and I think it would be likely thats a cycle that would repeat itself and they would want to get out again after 10 years. Personally I don't think its a good idea considering currently they are getting free money off of these deals without having to deal with the extremely tough amusement park business.
First, I'm lead to believe from Wikipedia that management of Parque Warner Madrid is by WarnerMedia and a few local conglomerates, so Warner's already has a Theme Park.
If they were looking to expand, I would have thought the natural partner would be Village Roadshow. That gets them two Warner branded parks (Madrid and Australia), and gets them into the Chinese Market through management Wet‘n’Wild Haikou and Hainan R&F Ocean Paradise.... and Wet'n'Wild Las Vegas for those of you playing in the US... VR also has experience in ride design in house and animal handling (Sea World Australia) if they're looking to expand further.
If they were to do it, they would have to get the rights back for DC in parks. Unfortunately, super hero IP is underwhelming in theme parks. Universal has 1 good superhero ride (Spiderman) with a good coaster loosely themed to the Hulk. 6 Flags has a lot of rollercoasters badged to DC with no real themeing.
If they could get those back, they'd have DC, Looney Tunes, Scooby Doo, Lego Movies (not sure how that would work with Legoland), maybe Lord of the Rings, Mad Max, Lethal Weapon and a slew of horror movies and others smaller IP. Definitely enough to do a solid theme park or 2.
Warner Brothers Movie World (owned and operated by Village Roadshow) is Australia's best (and I believe most attended) theme park, with a few solid attractions. It uses most of the Warner Bros IP pretty well, and shows that even older things like Looney Tunes and Scooby Doo can still be relevant.
I'd personally love to see them enter the theme park industry in an aggressive way, but with the expenditure required and risks involved the only way I would see it happening would be buying existing parks and gradually transforming them.
First, Wikipedia got me thinking that the management of Warner Madrid Park came from WarnerMedia and a few local best golf irons latest conglomerates, so Warner already has a theme park.
If they were trying to grow, I would have thought that the natural couple would be Village Roadshow. This makes them two Warner parks (Madrid and Australia), and leads them in the Chinese market through the direction of Wet'n'Wild Haikou and Hainan R & F Ocean Paradise .... and Wet'n 'Wild Las Vegas for those who play in the US. UU ... VR also has experience in designing pet-friendly design (Sea World Australia) if you want to evolve.
SeaWorld is available for Warner Bros to take over especially with Aquaman just waiting for a theme park tie-in. Nonetheless, Dubai is an One-Time event. The results haven’t come back in.
I just not sure there’s room for another big player in the US market unless other parks like Six Flags, SeaWorld, and many regional parks are acquired by Warner and put under one banner. Merlin (Legoland) did it piecemeal and it is currently the second largest theme park operator worldwide.
Man, the WB studio Halloween event looks good. I may have to choose between that or a day in California Adventure.
Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi is an indoor amusement park in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, owned and developed by Miral Asset Management at an expected cost of $1 billion. The best golf irons 2018 features characters from Warner Bros's franchises, such as Looney Tunes, DC Comics, Hanna-Barbera, and others.
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Warner Bros. can't just "pull" the Potter rights for its own use. And the focus on animated properties in Abu Dhabi served that park well. The question is... how could Warner Bros. reclaim those rights from Six Flags in the US market in order to open an Abu Dhabi-style park here?
The easiest path (and cheapest, perhaps), would be to just buy Six Flags, then sell the parks - minus the DC/Looney Tunes branding to another company. (Cedar Fair? Herschend? SeaWorld?) Maybe they keep a couple of those parks to redevelop as WB parks.
But that doesn't get them into the lucrative Orlando market. So how about option 2? Instead of trying to screw Universal, join forces. Become a partner in the fourth gate, which becomes a WB/Universal property. Lots of possibilities here.