BBC meets Paramount
Anyone fearing the proposed London Paramount theme park/entertainment resort would feature only Hollywood-branded attractions can take heart from a deal agreed between the park’s developer London Resort Company Holdings (LRCH) and BBC Worldwide.
The development agreement with the commercial arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation means that various popular BBC brands are likely to feature at the park alongside intellectual property from Paramount Pictures including Mission: Impossible, Star Trek, The Godfather and The Italian Job. BBC Worldwide’s first theme park project was the CBeebies Land children’s area, which debuted this spring at Alton Towers, however this would be the first time the BBC has licensed its IP on a park-wide basis.
“We are delighted to bring the world’s leading public service broadcaster on board this project,” says LRCH director David Testa. “The BBC has played an instrumental role in shaping the British entertainment industry for nearly a century, creating some of the most iconic and cherished characters on TV and radio. It seems only right therefore that its programmes will be present at the new London Paramount Entertainment Resort, which will combine the glamour of Hollywood with the best of British culture.”
Currently scheduled to open at Easter 2020, London is a £2 billion+ development earmarked for the Swanscombe Peninsula in North Kent, just outside the British capital. The plans call for a world-class studio theme park, the largest indoor waterpark in Europe, a 2,000-seat theatre, indoor event space, hotels and a creative business space. Funding is coming from Kuwaiti European Holding Co.
