Paramount Pictures has announced a deal to install a studio-branded theme park in an entertainment resort being developed in South Korea. The agreement was struck between Paramount and Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, which owns the Inspire Integrated Entertainment Resort in the South Korean city of Incheon.
Mohegan has invested KRW 2.8 trillion ($2.4 billion) in the new entertainment resort, which will be built on nearly 1,100 acres of land at the Incheon airport’s International Business Complex. The resort will feature the Paramount theme park and its related entertainment and retail village, a five-star hotel, an arena for K-pop concerts and sports, conference and convention space, and a casino. The theme park would incorporate attractions based on Paramount properties, such as “Mission: Impossible.”
Kevin Suh, Paramount’s EVP of themed entertainment, said that the site would be “one of the first locations for a world-class Paramount-branded theme park” and that the studio expected Inspire to be “one of the world’s premier entertainment destinations.”
“We are pleased to have the major global force in entertainment, Paramount, on our impressive and growing list of strategic partners for Project Inspire,” said Mario Kontomerkos, CEO of Mohegan. “Aligning with highly sought-after and recognized brands with mutual goals is a key component to the creation of the world’s first true integrated entertainment resort.”
Incheon International Airport Corp. estimates that the Inspire resort will create more than 10,000 jobs. Construction is set to start next year, with an official opening targeted for June 2022.
In 2008, Paramount and South Korea’s Daewoo Motor Sales signed a contract to incorporate a Paramount-branded movie theme park in Songdo, near Incheon. But the plan ultimately fell apart because of Daewoo’s financial troubles.