Macron’s Great French Cultural Project: Dragon Ball Z, Funded by Riyadh
Macron’s grand new vision for France: three Saudi-funded theme parks near Paris, manga included. Cultural renaissance or national self-parody?
The project reportedly grew out of a discussion between Emmanuel Macron and Mohammed bin Salman about their shared interest in manga. Photo: Statement/AI
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On Monday 24 August, French President Macron issued a lengthy statement on X to proudly announce his latest initiative: the launch of an amusement park project near Paris, based on the Japanese manga Dragon Ball Z and funded by Saudi Arabia to the tune of several billion euros. Reactions were swift and uniform in tone: in a France in steady decline, is there really anything to be proud of in having such a project on the horizon?
Macron proudly outlined his new project, but one might argue that the announcement began poorly: “You know my interest in manga”, the president declared. One can easily imagine such a statement coming from a trendy TikTok star, but not from the president of the French Republic.
What followed was not much better: “Together with Saudi Arabia, we are making an unprecedented announcement. In Cergy-Pontoise, three theme parks are going to be built. €6bn in investment. 22,000 jobs created. Nothing on this scale since Disneyland Paris. A new global destination. Here, in France. Thank you to Qiddiya and Saudi Arabia for their confidence in our country, our talent and our future.”
The project involves a tourism and leisure complex comprising up to three theme parks, led by Qiddiya Investment Company, a subsidiary of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. The first park will be dedicated to the world of manga, with Dragon Ball Z as the most likely theme – though the connection to the franchise has not yet been officially confirmed. No details have yet emerged about the themes of the other two parks. The goal is to create a new international tourist destination, combining theme parks, recreation, hospitality, culture and likely dining options, in a model similar to that of Disneyland Paris.
The project “stemmed from a discussion between the President of the Republic and the Crown Prince in December 2024” in Riyadh, when they discovered their “shared passion” for manga “and in particular Dragon Ball Z”, an advisor to Emmanuel Macron told Agence France-Presse.
The announced location is Cergy-Pontoise, in the Val-d’Oise department, about 30 km northwest of Paris. The timeline remains very preliminary: the agreement signed is an investment protocol, not a building permit. No start date for construction or official opening date has yet been set.
Construction is expected to take several years. Some sources suggest an opening around 2030–2031, but this timeline has not been confirmed by the Élysée Palace. The €6bn ($7bn) envelope covers the entire development: no breakdown has yet been provided of how the money will be divided among the three theme parks, potential hotels and infrastructure.
Macron can boast of having drawn near-unanimous opposition. To date, his post has racked up nine million views and more than 4,000 comments, all expressing utter dismay.
Emmanuel Macron meets Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Paris. Photo: Stephanie Lecocq/Reuters
Universal Dismay
Criticism is pouring in. Nothing about this announcement makes sense.
A president’s adolescent pride in a culturally questionable project. In the summer when millions of French people flocked to relive General de Gaulle’s epic story on the big screen, the eighth president of the Fifth Republic is gushing over a Japanese cartoon hero with a firecracker in his blue hair.
The disconnect from the country’s needs. France has just weathered a series of large-scale wildfires, which exposed major flaws in logistics – a shortage of firefighting aircraft and firefighters lacking essential equipment. The press has revealed a series of massive cyberattacks on public administration data – from the tax agency to the national education system – proving the inadequacy of the government’s IT infrastructure. Gas prices at the pump have surpassed €2.20 ($2.57) per liter. Yet the president is celebrating the opening of an amusement park.
The economic absurdity. Macron is boasting about a €6bn investment that will create 22,000 jobs. But this is a drop in the ocean of France’s economic decline – and it is entirely funded with foreign money. What is more, as some critics point out, the new complex will be located 40 minutes from Parc Astérix, which is operated by Compagnie des Alpes, a group controlled by the state-owned Caisse des Dépôts. So we are about to create a new competing park right next door, whose shareholders are, in this case, Saudi. That is what one would call brilliant.
French Legends Out, Dragon Ball In
Finally, there is the issue of cultural underambition. Several sources identify the location more precisely as the Courdimanche area, on the site of a former park called Mirapolis, which closed in 1991. The choice is not insignificant.
Opened in 1987, Mirapolis was France’s first major theme park, conceived as a celebration of the national imagination rather than the Disney universe. Its identity was rooted in French fairy tales, legends and literature: Rabelais, La Fontaine, Perrault, medieval knights and folk traditions inspired its themed areas, shows and attractions. Its emblem was a monumental 35-meter-tall statue of Gargantua, visible from several kilometers away, which embodied the ambition to create a French-style Disneyland rooted in French cultural heritage.
Despite an investment of over 700 million francs, Mirapolis survived only five seasons and closed permanently in 1991. The park suffered from visitor numbers far below projections, chaotic management marked by several changes in ownership, massive debt and a cultural concept deemed too complex for the public – and soon faced ruthless competition from Euro Disney. Mirapolis thus became the symbol of an ambitious cultural project that was economically ill-conceived.
In 2026, Macron brought Mirapolis back to life. But this time, traditional French tales and legends have been replaced by manga, all funded with Saudi money: quite symbolic. Macron boasts of “promoting France’s influence” with this convoluted mess. But what exactly is being promoted? At the start of his term, Macron stated: “There is no such thing as French culture.” At the end of his term, he declares: “You know my interest in manga” – a flawless journey from self-loathing to the whims of a prince.
The comments gleaned from X are unequivocal: one asks Macron “to what extent are you going to debase the presidency and humiliate France?”
On the right, people are annoyed: “Selling France to an Islamist petro-monarchy to build Asian theme parks in the middle of a slum in Cergy – only you would dare call that a success.”
On the left, people lament: “What a loser! Hospitals in ruins, only 6 operational Canadair firefighting planes, a Third-World justice system, a bankrupt school system... and he boasts about building theme parks.”
In this nightmare scenario, there is one man who is choking with rage – and rightly so: Nicolas de Villiers, head of Puy du Fou, which has been hailed for years as the best amusement park in the world. Puy du Fou is a park featuring spectacular live shows that pay tribute to French history. It was founded in the Vendée region in 1978 by his father, the conservative politician Philippe de Villiers. It has enjoyed unwavering success since its inception, crowned by countless international awards.
For Nicolas de Villiers, the Dragon Ball Z park is heresy. While Mirapolis failed in its day, Puy du Fou possesses the keys to success: it inspires dreams and moves crowds by drawing on the best of French tradition. “We have an extraordinary imagination that fascinates the world and attracts 100 million tourists from around the globe every year”, he notes in the pages of the Journal du Dimanche. Why not draw on this fascinating legacy and encourage French creators? It is a matter of vision and political ambition.
Member of the European Parliament Sarah Knafo, the face of Eric Zemmour’s party, Reconquête, sums up the situation succinctly: “Philippe de Villiers took a ruin and turned it into the most beautiful park in the world. Macron took the most beautiful country in the world and turned it into a ruin.”
