• Willkommen im Coasterfriends Forum!

2014 Neuheit: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter @ Universal Studios Osaka - Japan

Westfale95

CF Guru
CLUBMEMBER
Mitglied seit
2011
Beiträge
958
6a00d8341c630a53ef0168eb5d2170970c-600wi.jpg


Er ist in Orlando, bald auch in Hollywood und nun ist es auch für Osaka offiziell: Harry Potter zaubert bald auch in Japan in den Universal Studios. Hier ein Artikel aus den Los Angeles Times:

Harry Potter has conquered the world with books and then with movies. Now he’s doing the same with theme parks.

Universal Studios Japan on Thursday will unveil plans to build the first international version of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the blockbuster attraction that has drawn millions of fans to Universal’s Orlando resort and is coming to Los Angeles.

The Osaka destination -- expected to begin construction in the next few weeks with a planned opening in late 2014 and an expected cost of about $500 million -- brings Hogwarts Castle and rides including Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey to the boy wizard’s biggest market outside of the United States.

The eight Potter movies grossed nearly $900 million in Japan -- more even than in his home country of Britain. Products including magic wand chopsticks have made the Harry Potter brand Japan's most successful movie-based consumer products line of the last decade.

But the book and film series are both complete, and fans who have grown into their 20s and 30s are buying fewer toys. Harry Potter is in need of a business transformation. The answer from Warner Bros. -- which owns the licensing rights to author J.K. Rowling’s books -- is theme parks. Potter has driven a stunning 68% increase in attendance at Universal Orlando and spurred visitors to spend millions on butterbeer during their visits and paraphernalia on their way out.

"This type of immersion is what the fans crave more than buying traditional merchandise," said Warner Bros. Consumer Products President Brad Globe. "Our strategy is focused on theme parks because it's a different experience. They’ve read the books and seen the movies, but now they can enter the world."

Despite the sluggish world economy, theme park owners have been investing and expanding in recent years. Market leader Walt Disney Co. is spending $4.5 billion to build a new park in Shanghai, $1 billion to upgrade Anaheim’s California Adventure Park, and $500 million on a new attraction in Orlando based on James Cameron’s hit film "Avatar."

Universal, meanwhile, has a major expansion of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando planned in addition to the version in Los Angeles. And new Universal-branded parks are in the works in South Korea, Dubai and Russia.

"Across the board, theme park developers are doubling down on renovations and expansions," said Nima Samidi, an industry analyst at IbisWorld. "There's particularly a lot of activity in Asia because it's a fast-growing market that has a fascination with Western culture."

Revenue at Disney’s theme park unit grew 10% in the company’s last fiscal year to $11.8 billion, and Universal's was up 24% to $2 billion.

At Universal Studios Japan, which is owned by private investors including investment bank Goldman Sachs but licenses its name from the Hollywood entertainment giant, executives engaged in extensive research to gauge the public's interest in a Harry Potter attraction.

In a country of 127 million, more than 80 million tickets to Potter films have been bought and about 24 million books have been sold, giving the story of the orphan boy turned world-saving magician four spots among Japan’s top 10 all-time bestsellers.

The park also conducted surveys to gauge current levels of enthusiasm and what Japanese audiences like most about the series.

"Magical coming-of-age stories play very well in Japan, particularly when they're about the balance between ordinary life and something fantastical," said Glenn Gumpel, president of Universal Studios Japan.

Similarly themed works like the animated movie "Spirited Away" from director Hayao Miyazaki and video game series The Legend of Zelda from Nintendo are among the nation's most popular works of pop culture.

With its opening expected in under three years, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Japan will open sooner than the one in Los Angeles, despite the fact that the deal, which came out of talks that began last summer, was closed more recently.

That’s because at Universal Studios Hollywood, there's no room for expansion, meaning existing attractions must be demolished or renovated to make room for magic. As a result, it's not expected to debut until 2016.

In Osaka, meanwhile, the Wizarding World will be built alongside existing rides based on Spider-Man, "Jurassic Park" and "Jaws."

"We're already growing and expect we’ll get millions more people once we launch Harry Potter," said Gumpel, whose park drew more than 9 million people last year.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a cash cow for Warner Bros., which gets a substantial upfront free for each Universal attraction and a share of admissions and merchandise sales. In addition, Warner conducts tours of the soundstage in Leavesden, Britain, where the "Potter" films were shot.

And though there are few rival parks, outside of ones owned by rival Disney, that would be natural homes for Potter rides, the studio already has its eye on eventually launching more Wizarding Worlds.

"A lot of work goes into building these parks, so we’re probably at the limit of what we could manage at the moment," said Globe. "But if some other great opportunity for Harry Potter presents itself, we would certainly take a look at it." In a statement, Rowling gave her stamp of approval to the newest addition to her Harry Potter empire:
"I was delighted to experience and enjoy the attention to detail, creativity and superb craft that went into the first Wizarding World in Orlando,” she said. “I am equally delighted that the same level of expertise and enjoyment will translate to the new park in Japan.”

Quelle


Also 500 Millionen Dollar Investitionssumme klingt schon einmal vielversprechend :eek:
 

Chris B.

CF Team Redaktion
Teammitglied
CLUBMEMBER
Mitglied seit
2008
Beiträge
2.674
Keine Überraschung. Ich hoffe, dass dort die Lizenz weiterhin voll ausgeschöpft wird und Japan eine Wizarding World erhält, die es so noch nicht gibt. Da lässt sich noch viel draus machen. Ich gehe aber mal fest vom Hogwarts Castle plus Ride aus.
 

doCoaster

CF Team Redaktion
Teammitglied
CLUBMEMBER
Mitglied seit
2008
Beiträge
8.994
Wahrscheinlich noch direkt mit London/Gringots-Erweiterung... Das würde dann auch die große Investitionssumme erklären.
 

tsomts66

CF Guru
CLUBMEMBER
Mitglied seit
2008
Beiträge
3.629
links das bedeutet so viel wie: Parkplatz
das in der Mitte soll Fumei heißen - keine Ahnung wie da der Zusammenhang ist
und rechts soll wohl was Ähnliches wie ein schwarzes Loch aus der Albert Einstein Theorie entstehen.

Und nun darf spekuliert werden:rolleyes:
 

Mario M.

CF Team News
Teammitglied
CLUBMEMBER
Mitglied seit
2008
Beiträge
38.633
Bereits jetzt gibt es die erste Werbung für das Projekt!

New Harry Potter train starts giving rides to muggles in Osaka

Your dream of actually going on the Hogwarts Express is about to come true. Well, almost. The Harry Potter train on the JR Sakurajima line started operating last February 1 to make muggles more excited about the opening of the The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka in the summer of 2014.

Potter-train.jpg


The train wrap, made by West Japan Railway Co, will provide direct access to the theme park when it opens. It features images of Hogwarts Castle and the three main characters Harry, Hermione and Ron. The highly anticipated Wizarding World will give Harry Potter fans a chance to experience what it would have felt like to actually live in the world, if it actually existed. The theme park is expected to cost around $482 million and will feature replicas of Hogwarts Castle and Hogsmeade Village, as well as many of the popular rides from the original theme park in Orlando, Florida, including Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Universal Studios is expecting to add 1 million more visitors to its current 8 million.

Japan is the largest market for Harry Potter fans outside the United States. The eight films made more money in Japan than in Harry’s own country, the United Kingdom. And now that the books and films are over, the franchise needs to keep the massive fandom alive and what better way than a theme park that will recreate what fans love most about that world?

Quelle
 

Mario M.

CF Team News
Teammitglied
CLUBMEMBER
Mitglied seit
2008
Beiträge
38.633
Hier mal ein Luftbild das am 25. Dezember aufgenommen wurde, da kann man gut die Größe des neun Bereiches erkennen :)

harry-potter-universal-studios-japan-1.jpg


Quelle
 

Mario M.

CF Team News
Teammitglied
CLUBMEMBER
Mitglied seit
2008
Beiträge
38.633
Der überflüssige Parkplatz wird geschreddert, hier entsteht massig neue Baufläche:

harry-potter-universal-studios-japan-2.jpg
harry-potter-universal-studios-japan-3.jpg
harry-potter-universal-studios-japan-4.jpg


Quelle
 

Mario M.

CF Team News
Teammitglied
CLUBMEMBER
Mitglied seit
2008
Beiträge
38.633
Mal wieder ein aktuelles Video, das die gigantische Baustelle zeigt:

USJ

Am Bauzaun wird nun eindeutig gezeigt was es wird. Die ersten Türme nehmen hinter den Gerüsten schon erkennbare Formen an. Da werden sicher bald die ersten Teilbereiche von dem Gerüst befreit.
 
Oben