Nintendo first revealed plans to bring its characters and universes to Universal Studios theme parks in May 2015, but the project has been fairly black-boxed ever since. Thankfully, a recent report has shed some light on the collaboration.
According to Sankei News (translated by Kotaku), Nintendo and Universal are putting 40 billion yen (roughly $350 million U.S.) into the project and will finalize the deal this coming Friday. Sankei News compares the investment to Universal’s work with the Harry Potter franchise on The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a multi-part attraction based on J.K. Rowling's hit series.
The physical scope of the project was revealed via a park map (right). The area marked in green represents Universal Studios Japan’s existing attraction area, and the red area shows how much space Nintendo’s area will occupy. Napkin math suggests it will make up about eight percent of the overall park. The Nintendo area is expected to be completed by 2020, in time for the Tokyo-held Olympics.
“Universal theme parks offer incredibly popular, innovative, themed family entertainment experiences based on compelling stories and characters—using powerful storytelling and innovative technology,” a statement from 2015 reads. “Nintendo has created remarkable and imaginative worlds filled with captivating stories and beloved characters. Now, for the first time, those stories and characters will be brought to life in entirely new ways—only at Universal theme parks.”
