September 17, 2022, 2:02 PM ·
The rumor mill is cranking up in Hollywood, as chatter will get louder that NBCUniversal could possibly check out to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. [See The Hollywood Reporter’s Warner Bros. Discovery Has Bigger Problems Than Its DC Search.]
That acquisition could be a desire arrive legitimate for topic park supporters, as it would give Universal’s concept parks new entry to several Warner Bros. franchises, together with a vast range of horror IP for Halloween Horror Evenings. But a takeover would not make it possible for Common to develop sights themed to what could be Warner Bros. crown jewels – DC and Looney Tunes.6 Flags owns the theme park legal rights to DC and Looney Tunes, and that offer would not modify with NBCUniversal acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, just as Universal Orlando’s deal with Marvel did not adjust when Disney acquired Marvel.
The only way for Common to get access to DC and Looney Tunes would be to invest in all those legal rights from 6 Flags, or a property boss brian betsy or to invest in Six Flags in its entirety. But NBCUniversal would have to have purchased Warner Bros. Discovery previously to make that next possibility function. 6 Flags’ deal for the DC and Looney Tunes rights states that if an enjoyment enterprise purchases Six Flags, the theme park legal rights to all those figures revert to Warner Bros. [Who Really Owns the Theme Park Rights to the DC and Marvel Comic Characters?]But what’s the incentive for Universal’s theme parks to go immediately after DC? Universal Orlando now has the rights to Marvel and can hold them as very long as the firm would like. Disney has arrived at out to NBCUniversal a number of periods to offer you to receive individuals legal rights for the Walt Disney Planet Resort, and NBCUniversal, in so many text, has explained to Disney to go soar into the Toon Lagoon.Now if Universal experienced entry to the DC rights, that could possibly make the company ready to entertain an offer from Disney for the east coast Marvel legal rights. But unless Disney will come forward with a thing that Common seriously requires, the Mouse Dwelling is going to have to provide to publish a quite, pretty significant check out to get NBCUniversal’s interest.And, no, the before long-to-expire topic park legal rights to The Simpsons are not persuasive plenty of to get Common to give up Marvel, particularly if NBCUniversal gets Warner Bros. Discovery and can swap in whatsoever Hanna-Barbera franchise it needs into people spaces. It is really not difficult to imagine Hollywood’s Springfield getting Bedrock, with the motor vehicles in The Simpsons Ride getting the Flintstones’ auto. Or it’s possible a Willy Wonka land, if Common does not desire to return to its Hanna-Barbera days.So what could Universal’s concept parks get if NBCUniversal acquires Warner Bros. Discovery? In addition to Hanna-Barbera and Willy Wonka, WBD controls Cartoon Network, which could deepen Universal’s lineup of people to populate long term kids’ lands.
Warner Bros. Discovery also controls New Line Cinema, which developed Austin Powers, Dumb and Dumber, Friday, The Mask, and Elf, as nicely as Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Last Vacation spot, IT, and The Conjuring on the horror facet.A Warner Bros. offer possibly does not give Common the theme park rights to Center-earth, which are now managed by Embracer Team. [‘The Lord of the Rings’ Gets a New Owner – Theme Park Deals Next?] Warner Bros. Discovery owns HBO, having said that, which delivers Game of Thrones into engage in for the fantasy house.Other Warner Bros. franchises with potential concept park value consist of Mad Max, The Matrix, Blade Runner, and Beetlejuice, which has appeared lately underneath license at Universal’s Halloween Horror Evenings.
Warner Bros. also owns the legal rights to the Wizarding Planet, which it has licensed to Common, but NBCUniversal mum or dad Comcast would help you save a bundle on those people licensing fees if they had been just heading from 1 division of the organization to a different. But the largest option for Universal’s concept parks may possibly be on the capital side. A Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition would give NBCUniversal ownership of the Warner Bros. studio good deal – and Warner Bros. Studio Tour – up coming door to Universal Studios Hollywood. That right away gives Universal a next gate in California for its theme park visitors. Eventually, Universal Parks leadership would have to have to make some challenging selections about how the Warner Bros. attraction would suit with its Universal Studios Hollywood neighbor following door, though NBCUniversal leadership considers how access to the Warner Bros. studio great deal and its soundstages may possibly allow for Universal Studios to reallocate far more of its existing USH studio place for topic park functions.Ultimately, if Comcast decides that NBCUniversal ought to bid for Warner Bros. Discovery at the time that opportunity opens in 2024, that final decision will relaxation on the value of Warner Bros. Discovery’s belongings to NBCUniversal’s studios, streaming, and linear networks, with theme parks an afterthought. But this offer would generate enormous possibilities – and prospective worries – for Universal Parks & Resorts.You improved consider that Common Parks administration is considering about them right now. So it truly is comprehensible that ahead-imagining theme park enthusiasts might want to look at them, also.* * *