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Newspaper: France's Theme Park Project Lacks Approval From Dragon Ball's Rights Holders

Following the announcement of a planned manga-themed theme park in Cergy-Pontoise, France, the French news outlet Le Monde reported the project has not received approval from the Dragon Ball rights holders. According to Le Monde, “several sources familiar with the project, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the proposal…has not – at least not yet – secured this essential golden ticket.”

The Toei Animation Europe website lists the copyrights holders for the Dragon Ball IP as Bird Studio (the late Akira Toriyama's studio), Japanese publisher Shueisha, and, for the anime rights, Toei Animation.

The Le Monde report comes nearly a day after French President Emmanuel Macron announced the 6 billion euro (about US$7 billion) theme park project. The Japan Times newspaper reported that Macron's office said one of the theme parks “is expected to be manga-themed,” and The Japan Times and British public broadcaster BBC further specified that a theme park is "expected to be themed on the Dragon Ball series."

Macron further stated that the project is on a scale not seen since Disneyland Paris and is projected to create 22,000 new jobs.

Sources: Le Monde, Toei Animation Europe