New Paramount theme park in China will feature a Star Trek section

Artist rendition of the formerly-planned Plaza Futura, intended as part of Paramount Park Murcia in Spain. Image StarTrek.com

NOVEMBER 15, 2021 - Last week, Variety reported the announcement of a Paramount branded theme park to be built in Kunming, the capital city of China’s Yunnan province. The park will be divided into six sections, one of which will be devoted entirely to Star Trek.

“Final Frontier” is the proposed name for the Star Trek-themed section of the park, and is expected to hold several attractions for guests. The park will include thrill rides based on Paramount properties in the “Adventure CIty” and “Wonderland” areas. “Paramount Boulevard” will provide guests with dining, hotels, and retail opportunities. A “Peanuts” area, based on the Charles Schultz comic, will also be installed, along with another section featuring dinosaurs (and more thrill rides!) based on James Gurney’s Dinotopia.

When it comes to theme parks, this isn’t Paramount’s first rodeo. Back in the 1990s, Paramount acquired five theme parks from King’s Entertainment, which were later sold in 2006. In 2008, the Las Vegas attraction Star Trek: The Experience closed. Since then, plans to open several Paramount branded parks across the globe have been announced, but all have yet to open. Parks in London and Incheon, South Korea are expected to open in 2023 and 2025, respectively.

The new resort in Kunming will cost $8 billion and encompass more than 640 acres, becoming China’s third largest themed resort behind Universal Beijing (990 acres) and Disneyland Shanghai (963 acres). Construction on the theme park is expected to be completed in June of 2024. A projected date for the opening of the park was not reported, but we’ll be sure to update you with any new details on the project.