In short: On 24 August 2026, France and Saudi Arabia signed a memorandum of understanding for three theme parks at Cergy-Pontoise, near Paris, one of them devoted to Dragon Ball and developed by Qiddiya Investment Company. Six billion euros, 22,000 jobs announced, no opening date. And one detail Le Monde reported the very next day: Dragon Ball's Japanese rights holders have not yet given their approval.
What exactly was signed on 24 August 2026?
A memorandum of understanding between the French state and Qiddiya Investment Company, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund PIF, for three theme parks in the Cergy-Pontoise area of the Val-d'Oise department. It is neither a building permit nor an operating contract. The Élysée announced it on Monday 24 August 2026, during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's two-day state visit to Paris.
Emmanuel Macron summed it up on X in four sentences: "In Cergy-Pontoise, 3 theme parks will be built. 6 billion euros of investment. 22,000 jobs created. Nothing like it since Disneyland Paris." The presidency likes the comparison: Disneyland Paris, opened in 1992, supports around 20,000 direct jobs. The statement mentions hotels, restaurants and staggered openings, with no timetable.
One point few people noticed: the Élysée statement never says the words Dragon Ball. It speaks of a first park devoted to "the world of manga". It was the president's advisers, quoted by AFP, who told the origin story: a conversation between Emmanuel Macron and the crown prince "in December 2024 in Riyadh, when they discovered their shared passion for manga, and Dragon Ball Z in particular". And it was Valérie Pécresse, president of the Île-de-France region, who spelled it out on TikTok: "No, you are not dreaming, Dragon Ball is coming to Île-de-France!" She added that the region has been working on the file for eighteen months.
The visuals that circulated with the French announcement are those of the Saudi park in Qiddiya City. No rendering of the Cergy-Pontoise site exists yet.
Why doesn't the Dragon Ball park have its licence yet?
Because the agreement signed on 24 August binds France and Qiddiya, not the owners of Dragon Ball. Le Monde reported it on 25 August: no licence to use the brand and the characters has been granted for French territory, and according to sources close to the file, Son Goku's presence "is not exactly guaranteed". Asked for comment, Toei Animation's European subsidiary declined, as did Glénat, the French publisher of the manga.
This is not a refusal. Nobody on the Japanese side has said no. The licence is simply not signed, and the one Qiddiya obtained for its park in Saudi Arabia, concluded with Toei Animation in March 2024, does not automatically extend to a second park on another continent. Every territory and every use is negotiated separately. Since Akira Toriyama's death on 1 March 2024, decisions are taken by several parties, which does not speed anything up.
The most talked-about reaction came from Japan. Kazuhiko Torishima, Toriyama's long-time editor and former editor-in-chief of Weekly Shōnen Jump, asked the question on X on 26 August, in words the trade magazine Livres Hebdo rendered as: "Why is there no Japanese person involved in this matter?" When the man who approved the first chapter of Dragon Ball in 1984 publicly wonders what is going on, it is not a communication detail.
My view as a shopkeeper, not a lawyer: the announcement was made in the wrong order. By making the project public before the licence was signed, the Élysée and the region handed the rights holders a bargaining chip they did not have the day before. Qiddiya is used to dealing with Toei, which is its main asset; but it now has to convince each of the other rights holders, and quickly, because everyone is watching.
Who owns the rights to Dragon Ball?
Several Japanese companies, each over one part of the work, and none can sign on behalf of the others. That is what makes a theme park licence heavier to obtain than a T-shirt licence. Here is who does what, based on the credits printed on Dragon Ball products and the details given by Livres Hebdo and Toei Animation Europe.
| Company | Role | What it controls |
|---|---|---|
| Bird Studio | Akira Toriyama's company | The copyright on the manga, the characters and the designs |
| Shueisha | Publisher of the manga in Japan | Publication, and co-signature of most derived licences |
| Toei Animation | Studio behind the anime since 1986 | The animation, the films, and licences derived from the anime; partner of the Qiddiya City park |
| Bandai Namco | Video games, toys, cards | Video game adaptations and a large share of merchandise |
| Capsule Corporation Tokyo | Founded in 2023 by Akio Iyoku, formerly of Shueisha | Steering new Dragon Ball projects |
| Glénat | French publisher of the manga | The manga in France, around 34 million copies sold according to Livres Hebdo; no rights over a park |
On the renderings Qiddiya released for its Saudi park, the credit printed in the bottom right corner fits on one line: "©Bird Studio/Shueisha, Toei Animation". Those three names, at the very least, will have to appear on the first visual of the French park for the matter to be settled.
What does the Qiddiya City Dragon Ball park look like?
Like a park of more than 500,000 square metres, forty minutes from Riyadh, divided into seven zones inspired by the seven Dragon Balls, with more than thirty attractions including five major rides, themed hotels and restaurants. Qiddiya announced it on 22 March 2024, in partnership with Toei Animation, as "the world's only Dragon Ball theme park". A slogan that suddenly aged.
The showpiece is a 70-metre Shenron standing on a rock in the middle of a lake, with a roller coaster running through the dragon's body. Seven orange domes marked with stars float at its feet. The rest of the renderings set the tone: Kame House on its beach, the yellow dome of Capsule Corporation, Korin Tower, the Tenkaichi Budokai arena, the snow-covered tower of the Red Ribbon Army, and the twisted tree of Beerus's planet under a red sky.
Click the image to watch the park presentation video published by Qiddiya on its YouTube channel.
Capsule Corporation is the zone I am looking forward to most, and not only because Bulma's "C" logo is the one on our Capsule Corp keychain (12.99 EUR, 5/5 from 27 reviews). The yellow dome, the round buildings around it and the ship parked next door are the most recognisable sets in the series, the ones you can rebuild at full scale without cheating.
Beerus's planet is the most surprising zone in the renderings. The God of Destruction of Universe 7 sits third in our ranking of the most powerful Dragon Ball characters, behind Whis and Zeno, and his castle-tree under a red sky is the only set in the park taken from Dragon Ball Super rather than Dragon Ball Z. Qiddiya's message is clear: the park covers the whole saga, not just the nostalgia.
How far along is construction? Less far than the pictures suggest. Falcon's Creative Group, an Orlando studio, was appointed in September 2024 for the masterplan and attraction design. In July 2026, the trade publication MEED reported a tender for the park's back-of-house buildings: plant rooms, workshops, warehouses, central kitchens, a monorail depot and a fire station, with bids due on 13 September 2026. No opening date has been announced. Next door, Qiddiya did deliver Six Flags Qiddiya City on 31 December 2025, with its 28 attractions and Falcon's Flight, a roller coaster launched at 250 km/h. The group knows how to build; it is not moving fast on Dragon Ball.
What is the state of the Mirapolis site in Courdimanche?
Abandoned for more than thirty years. The site named by the entire regional press, but not yet confirmed by Qiddiya, is that of the former Mirapolis park in Courdimanche, within the Cergy-Pontoise urban area, about thirty kilometres north-west of Paris. Fifty-five hectares, thirty-five for the park itself and twenty for car parks.
Mirapolis opened on 20 May 1987 with a theme of French tales and literature, dominated by a concrete Gargantua visible from the motorway. The first season drew 600,000 visitors against the two million hoped for. The park closed on 20 October 1991 after five seasons and more than 700 million francs invested, was demolished in 1993, and the Gargantua was dynamited on 1 September 1995. What remains is the old entrance building, covered in graffiti, and a plot nobody has managed to fill since. It was the first major theme park in the Paris region, opened five years before Disneyland Paris, and the first to close.
When will the Dragon Ball park in France open?
No date has been given, either by the Élysée or by Qiddiya. The year 2032 was floated on French channel TF1, and a theme park specialist interviewed by franceinfo estimates that a project of this size needs five to six years of construction, which would bring it to 2030 or 2031 at the very best. Before the first shovel, it needs the licence, the studies, the public inquiries and the permits. The Saudi park, announced in March 2024, is still tendering its technical buildings two and a half years later: that is the only reliable benchmark we have.
| Item | Status on 28 August 2026 | Source |
|---|---|---|
| France / Qiddiya memorandum of understanding | Signed on 24 August 2026 | Élysée |
| Three parks, 6 billion euros, 22,000 jobs | Announced, no breakdown by park | Élysée, AFP |
| First park devoted to manga | Confirmed by the Élysée | Statement of 24 August |
| Dragon Ball theme | Asserted by the region, never written by the Élysée | Valérie Pécresse, advisers quoted by AFP |
| Licence from the Japanese rights holders | Not obtained | Le Monde, 25 August |
| Former Mirapolis site | Expected, not confirmed by Qiddiya | Regional press |
| Opening date | None; 2032 floated by TF1 | Sortiraparis, franceinfo |
| Themes of the other two parks | Unknown | Élysée |
Why a Dragon Ball park in France, and not in Japan?
Because France is the second-largest manga market in the world, the first outside Japan, and Dragon Ball has been part of the furniture there since the anime aired on the Club Dorothée programme in 1988. Glénat has sold around 34 million copies of the manga in the country. Japan, for its part, has never had a permanent Dragon Ball park: temporary attractions, such as Dragon Ball Z: The Real 4-D at Universal Studios Japan in 2016 and 2017, but nothing that stays. That is exactly what Torishima is pointing at: the first park went to Riyadh, the second to Paris, and Tokyo is watching.
Paris has already shown what a well-run manga licence sets off. When One Piece entered the Grévin wax museum in June 2026, the Luffy card given to visitors overwhelmed the museum in a single weekend and ended up at several hundred euros on Cardmarket. A Dragon Ball park thirty kilometres from the capital would play in another league, provided it exists.
While waiting for 2030-something, Goku settles onto a shelf faster than into the Val-d'Oise. The Goku Ultra Instinct light box (39.99 EUR, 4.7/5 from 26 reviews) and the rest of our Dragon Ball range ship from the store, with no memorandum of understanding or public inquiry required. I will update this article at every real step: licence signature, permit filing, first rendering of the French site.
Frequently asked questions about the Dragon Ball park in France
Is the Dragon Ball park in France confirmed?
Partly. The memorandum of understanding between France and Qiddiya Investment Company for three parks at Cergy-Pontoise has been signed since 24 August 2026. The Dragon Ball theme, however, is only confirmed by the Île-de-France region and the Élysée's advisers: according to Le Monde, the licence from the Japanese rights holders had not been granted as of 28 August 2026.
Where will the Dragon Ball park near Paris be located?
In the Cergy-Pontoise area of the Val-d'Oise department, about thirty kilometres north-west of Paris. The expected site is that of the former Mirapolis park in Courdimanche, 55 hectares left empty since the park closed in 1991. Qiddiya has not yet confirmed the exact location.
When will the Cergy-Pontoise Dragon Ball park open?
No date has been announced. The year 2032 was mentioned on TF1, and a specialist interviewed by franceinfo counts five to six years of construction once the permits are obtained. Qiddiya's Saudi park in Qiddiya City, announced in March 2024, has no opening date either.
Who is funding the Dragon Ball park in France?
Qiddiya Investment Company, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund PIF, which is already developing Six Flags Qiddiya City and the Dragon Ball park near Riyadh. The announced budget is six billion euros for the whole project: three parks, hotels and restaurants. No breakdown per park has been published.
Is there already a Dragon Ball theme park anywhere in the world?
Not open yet. The first, in Qiddiya City in Saudi Arabia, was announced on 22 March 2024 by Qiddiya and Toei Animation: more than 500,000 square metres, seven zones, more than thirty attractions and a 70-metre Shenron with a roller coaster running through it. In August 2026 it is at the tender stage for its technical buildings.
Images: ©Bird Studio/Shueisha, Toei Animation; renderings released by Qiddiya Investment Company for the Qiddiya City park. Photo of the Mirapolis entrance: VVVCFFrance, CC0, Wikimedia Commons.
