Dragon Ball Z built its whole mythology on fusion and unlikely team-ups. Nobody had this pairing on the card.
On Monday, the Élysée Palace announced that France and Saudi Arabia will work together on a manga-themed amusement park inspired by Dragon Ball Z, to be built northwest of Paris. Price tag: €6 billion, or about $7 billion, split between the two nations.
The origin story is better than the announcement. According to a report from Reuters, the idea came out of a 2025 meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, where each leader found out the other was a huge fan of Akira Toriyama’s franchise.
Two heads of state, one shared childhood
Turns out world leaders are weebs too.
Funding comes from Qiddiya, the Saudi entertainment and investment group already building a Dragon Ball theme park of its own in Qiddiya City, an entertainment hub still under development outside Riyadh. That one is slated to include more than five rides, 30 attractions, hotels, restaurants and a 230-foot Shenron.
So the Paris park isn’t a one-off. It’s the second Dragon Ball destination on the same company’s books.
What the theme parks are actually for
Saudi Arabia has spent years buying its way into sports and entertainment, a strategy critics call “sportswashing” and a way to launder the country’s public image. The kingdom launched the LIV Golf league and recently closed the Public Investment Fund’s purchase of gaming giant EA, among other investments.
That image needs the help. Saudi Arabia is known for its authoritarian regime and its human rights abuses. It uses capital punishment for various nonviolent offenses, tortures prisoners, restricts free speech, facilitates horrific work conditions for migrant laborers and enforces anti-LGBTQ laws. Bin Salman has been accused of ordering the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, according to reports of findings by the CIA.
Those facts sit uneasily next to a giant animatronic dragon. They’re supposed to.
Nobody said when
The announcement came with no opening date and no construction timeline. Just a number, a location and two enthusiastic signatures.
The Dragon Ball park is one of three France is looking to build near Paris. And Dragon Ball is heading to New York City as well.
Somewhere in the northwest suburbs of Paris, a plot of land is waiting on a 230-foot wish-granting dragon’s French cousin.
