Lionsgate Entertainment World – Earth’s first film-based vertical theme park – opened this summer in China, bringing some of the most successful film franchises to life with VR and augmented reality experiences. Emily Eastman reports
The futuristic theme park has more than 50 experiences based on some of Lionsgate’s most popular films, including The Hunger Games, The Twilight Saga and The Divergent Series. Situated in Zhuhai, an emerging tourist destination, the site is just 11km by road from Macau, which is nicknamed the “Las Vegas of Asia”.
From The Twilight Saga, “Midnight Ride” is a multiplayer interactive virtual reality motorbike simulator in which visitors race with Jacob and the Wolf Pack on dirt bikes through moonlit woodland. Meanwhile, “Gods of Egypt – Battle for Eternity” is the world’s first purpose-built indoor VR roller coaster.
Inspired by Divergent, leading attractions at Lionsgate Entertainment World include the “Fear Simulator”, a VR experience that tests bravery and willpower as players navigate a world of narrow passageways and traps, and the “Chasm Challenger Course”, whereby e-tourists wearing VR headsets have to scale bridges and walls.
Taking the form of a tower rather than a campus, Lionsgate Entertainment World is a leading attraction within the first phase of Novotown, a tourism and entertainment project in Henquin, an island in Zhuhai. The theme park is aimed at 16- to 30-year-old Chinese movie fans, and has been designed with help from Los Angeles-based Thinkwell Group, which also worked on Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi.
“From escaping the Capitol, to braving the mental and physical challenges of Dauntless, to taking on a newborn vampire army with Jacob and the Wolf Pack, we can’t wait for fans to step into the worlds of their favorite films to create their own authentic adventures.”
Brown said that the park hopes to capitalise on Zhuhai’s rising status as a tourist destination, noting that the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom theme park in Zhuhai already draws tens of millions of people.
Anticpating growing demand for Cyber Worlds (download our trend report via the link below for more on this), Lionsgate Entertainment World expects to welcome 1.5 million visitors by the end of 2019.
Its popularity signals a wider trend for VR and AR experiences, with many existing theme parks overlaying a VR experience on top of an existing ride, creating a new experience without the financial outlay of building an entirely new ride.
Other dedicated VR theme parks include China’s VR Star Theme Park, located in Guizhou, and the VR Park in Dubai, which has bragging rights as the world’s largest VR park.