NYC's Lionsgate park, Hunger Games attractions canceled
The odds were not in favor of Lionsgate opening a New York City theme park.
Though the global movie studio had previously partnered with Spanish amusement park company Parques Reunidos — which operates several parks across Europe and the United States — to bring indoor attractions based on its library of films and television series to Manhattan’s Times Square, Lisbon, and Madrid, EW has confirmed plans to open the trio of locations have been scrapped.
Among rides and attractions originally intended for the New York City location (initially slated to open in late 2019) included a motion simulator based on the Hunger Games movie adaptations starring Jennifer Lawrence, a Mad Men restaurant, and an interactive John Wick dark ride.
Parques Reunidos decided not to move forward with developing the parks as a means to “save costs and improve efficiency aimed at increasing its profitability,” following the underperformance of three entertainment properties that opened in Spain in 2017 and 2018 — including an aquarium and two Nickelodeon Adventure parks. (Representatives for Lionsgate did not immediately return EW’s request for clarification).
“The results obtained so far in the three operating centers are below the expected return objectives,” reads a statement from Parques Reunidos, which also indicates the termination of the parks results in a loss of €42 million (approximately $47 million in U.S. currency).
The company will, however, move forward with its TV-themed Nickelodeon Lakeside project in London, on track to open later this year.
Though fans won’t get to experience Lionsgate’s slate of attractions in New York, Lisbon, and Madrid, other Hunger Games projects are on the way; Series author Suzanne Collins is currently working on a prequel set 64 years before the events of the first book, while another indoor theme park, Lionsgate Entertainment World — featuring Hunger Games-themed restaurants, shops, and a motion simulator ride in addition to a Twilight dark ride and a Gods of Egypt roller coaster — will open July 31 in China.
Dubai’s Motiongate theme park previously opened a roller coaster based on The Hunger Games in late 2017.
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