Malaysia’s Resorts World Genting will launch its long-awaited US$800 million theme park in the second quarter of this year, the company said Tuesday.
According to a report by Malay Mail, confirmation that the new theme park remains on track for a Q2 launch was provided by Genting Malaysia’s head of business operations and strategies, Lee Thiam Kit, during a virtual briefing in which he said, “We’re committed to this park and we will see to it that it opens, barring unforeseen circumstances.
“Going forward, when we open, there will be jobs created and the park will add economic activity directly and indirectly as well as a boost to tourism in Malaysia and Pahang.”
The movie-inspired theme park, called Genting SkyWorlds, will feature nine movie and adventure-inspired worlds across 26 acres of outdoor space, including 26 rides and attractions with more to come. The park will also seek to eliminate queues by introducing “virtual queue technology” that allows guests to pre-book their spots on rides.
RWG head of theme parks Gregory Pearn said there will also be some rides and attractions based on 20th Century Studios franchises.
“We do have some (20th Century Studios) IPs in the park such as Rio and Ice Age which are fantastic IPs to have,” he said. “We are also complementing these with our own homegrown IPs and in the long-term, the plan is to introduce other IPs to the park as well.
“Having Genting SkyWorlds as the hero of the product gives us the chance to be more creative with the proposition and allows us more freedom with what we want to introduce at a later stage.”
The use of 20th Century Studios branding comes after Genting Malaysia reached a settlement with Twenty-First Century Fox Inc and Walt Disney Co in 2019 in relation to the development of its theme park, which was to originally be called 20th Century Fox World.
Genting Malaysia had filed a US$1 billion lawsuit in November 2018 claiming that the two iconic US firms had reneged on a contract to build the theme park. Fox subsequently filed a counter-claim alleging breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing by Genting Malaysia.
The 2019 settlement saw all parties agree to fully resolve their disputes against each other and dismiss all claims and counterclaims between the parties. As part of the settlement terms, the parties entered into a Restated Memorandum of Agreement granting Genting Malaysia a license to use certain Fox intellectual properties.
The theme park had originally been scheduled for a 3Q20 opening but was delayed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and a Movement Control Order issued across Malaysia to prevent the spread of the virus.
