Will the Dragon Ball Park really come to life at the gates of Paris? In the Val-d'Oise, in Courdimanche, near Cergy-Pontoise, the vast leisure complex announced on August 24, 2026 by Emmanuel Macron and the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman is already facing a serious setback. The culprit: the Japanese studio Toei Animation Co., Ltd., one of the rights holders of the famous anime, which is denying any partnership for a park on French soil.
In its statement, the Japanese company takes a firm stance. It explains that several media outlets have recently mentioned a Dragon Ball theme park in France, but neither it nor the other rights holders have granted any authorization, and it is not aware of any such development. The studio even notes that the visuals and videos used in several articles do not pertain to the Paris-region project, a fact that has greatly fueled the confusion.
Other players in the licensing are sticking to the same cautious line. Bandai Namco Entertainment, another potential rights holder, declined to comment to AFP, while a spokesperson for Shueisha, the Japanese publisher of the Dragon Ball manga, said they have nothing to do with the project. On its side, the Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC) had already shown itself far more restrained than the Élysée, simply noting ongoing talks with major international brands and never definitively confirming Son Goku’s involvement in the Val-d'Oise.
For now, the only Dragon Ball park truly under construction is thousands of kilometers away, in Qiddiya City, Saudi Arabia. This new city, developed by QIC, will also feature a golf course and a motor racing circuit. It is this Saudi project, with its giant Shenron dragon statue, that has served as a showcase and fed the imagination around the future site in France, even though no plan specific to Cergy has been revealed.
The Île-de-France complex, for its part, hasn’t been abandoned. Six billion euros in investment, entirely funded by Saudi interests, has been announced for this site built on the ruins of the former Mirapolis amusement park, about 35 kilometers northwest of Paris. The project envisions several parks, accommodations, cultural and sports facilities, as well as social and student housing. The Dragon Ball theme, for its part, remains contingent on a licensing agreement that does not yet exist.
The timing question remains, and it is far from being anecdotal. Building a theme park is never straightforward: the project will stretch over several years, with no fixed date at this stage, given the multitude of regulatory steps. For comparison, The Walt Disney Company announced as early as 2018 its expansion devoted to La Reine des neiges, which finally opened in late March 2026 for two billion euros. A horizon around 2032 is being discussed for the Cergy site, which would create 22,000 direct jobs, compared with 20,000 for Disneyland Paris.
At this stage, neither Qiddiya nor the Élysée has offered a detailed response to Toei Animation’s denial. The mega-complex in Val-d'Oise could end up under a completely different banner if no agreement is reached with the Japanese rights holders. In other words, the dream of a life-size Kamehameha on the gates of Paris hinges for now on a signature that has not yet been affixed.
To track developments on this story, read our article about the three amusement parks confirmed near Cergy and our analysis on the possible attractions and the planned opening date.
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