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Welcome To Screamscape!
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If you’re a theme park lover or enjoy the best thrill rides the world has to offer, you’ve found the right place.
From new ride announcements, construction reports and the latest rumors: Screamscape always has something new to report.
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News & Rumors
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THE LONDON RESORT
(Formerly: Paramount Park London)
London, England
London Resort Company Holdings (LRCH)
 DEAD - New Park - (7/2/2024) The final nail is now being hammered into the coffin of The London Resort. Or at least, the likelihood that the site will be ever used to build the theme park resort. Blooloop reports that Swanscombe Development LLP is now officially selling the land they own at the site in Kent once earmarked for the proposed theme park resort. The London Resort once had an exclusive option to buy the 372 acres from Swanscombe, but that expired in December 2022. For now, Swanscombe has put the development company and the freehold on the land designated for the theme park up for sale, and will accept offers up to July 26th.
(1/6/2024) Ahhh… The London Resort. It has been such a long story filled with such drama over the years, so I’m not surprised that another development has dropped to put yet another nail in the proverbial coffin. According to Blooloop, Abdulla Al-Humaidi, who was a key financial backer for the London Resort project has now been “declared bankrupt”. Follow the link to read all the latest details about the status of the proposed resort project.
(11/12/2023) While many consider The London Resort project to be dead in the water, the project made the news again this week when it was revealed that The London Resort is now being sued by Paramount. This is a strange, almost full-circle move, since the project started out as Paramount Park London ( an entire park themed just to Paramount properties). Paramount Global is now claiming that the “restructuring” of the project that took place in April 2023 was “unfair” in how it granted “creditors equity in exchange for money owed.” Paramount believes that “ debts that affected the vote were inflated and assigned to a third party in a ‘sham’ transaction” and is demanding to see all the documentation.
(1/1/2023) Bad news for the proposed London Resort theme park project. According to the latest news the scale of the project has been “significantly” reduced in reaction to the various environmental concerns regarding the theme park resort’s plans. No longer are they planning to spread out the project across the 535 acre site, and the primary force within the London Resorts progress over since 2019, executive PY Gerbeau, has now stepped-down and departed the company.
In short, it sounds like there is still come support for the project, if done at a smaller and less invasive scale. Perhaps it is best to think of this as yet another reboot for the project, one that may focus on actually getting something smaller built and open before dreaming about how much bigger it could be.
(4/4/22) Believe it or not, The London Resort has withdrawn their application for the proposed theme park for the time being. After years of delays and struggles the park seemed poised to finally move forward, only to have nature activists have the site for the resort labeled as the next-to-last home for a tiny endangered jumping spider. This caused support and involvement in the project from ITV and BBC to pull out, all while the park was being pressured to make their final plan presentations.
According to park reps, they say they are still 100% committed to the project and will be back to resubmit all their plans before the end of the year, but after so many years of delays for the project, unfortunately I worry that time is just not on their side right now. We wish them all the luck in the world at this point to try and make this thing happen.
(3/5/22) The London Resort was just thrown into a bit of chaos, as a couple of the proposed new theme park’s large backers just dropped out, apparently due to the conflict over the site being home to a rare species of jumping spider. According to this article ITV and the BBC have both pulled out of the project.
(2/13/22) So what’s new with the London Resort now? While the project has been hit with countless delays and some setbacks, causing the developers to delay the final review of their plans, apparently a final deadline is quickly approaching. According to this article the developers were hoping to delay their final review until this June or July, but now they are being told a new strict deadline to submit their final plans has been set for March 15th. Honestly though, after being in various stages of development for nearly 10 years now, it is time to either let them build it, or move on to something else.
(1/2/22) The London Resort released a new and quite stunning piece of artwork on New Year’s Eve for the proposed theme park. The artwork shows off a medieval castle with a fire breathing dragon sitting perched near the top. Meanwhile smoke and molten lava appear to be pouring down the sides of the castle’s lower levels. Surrounding the castle (and appearing to venture through it in some areas) is a pair of racing/dueling wooden roller coasters.
The scene is simply epic to view and sucks you right in. If they can manage to build this scene in real life, and come up with equally epic looking settings for the park's other attractions and lands, then I think The London Resort has a good future ahead of it. At least they will, provided they are given the chance to actually build the park. But based on this new piece of art, I think this is a huge step in the right direction… time to start showing off what the actual theme park and attractions may be like and get people excited and ready to see it built!
As for this castle coaster concept… take my money, because I want to ride that thing now!
(12/4/21) According to the latest word, the plans for The London Resort project are pushing ahead, as is, despite the site being granted SSSI status by Natural England. CEO PY Gerbeau stated that there will be no “material changes” to the planning application, and that the decision by Natural England was “erroneous and not the best means of achieving a balance between the economic and environmental objectives for the site.”
What changes that will be made are said to be very subtle and primarily to the plan’s “green infrastructure strategy” that will preserve a greater area of the habitat outside of the resort.
(11/14/21) More trouble for the proposed London Resort as the proposed site for the theme park resort has now been “confirmed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by Natural England”. The status is said to give protected status to the site that could prevent future development and threaten the future development of the planned theme park resort. For now the London Resort and a few other parties have formally objected to this action, so this isn’t the final nail in the coffin for the park who has vowed that the project will go ahead as planned.
(10/9/21) According to local news reports The London Resort has confirmed that construction on the project will begin in 2022, once the planning application has been accepted. This will keep the project on track to open in 2024.
(9/24/21) According to the latest update at Blooloop, the planning application for The London Resort has been delayed once again by the Planning Inspectorate. Currently, it appears that the next chance for a preliminary meeting won't be until at least April 2022, after the latest delay pushes back the 6-month long process. Apparently the panel felt they did not “have a detailed understanding of the applicant’s proposed consultations and updates”, even after all this time.
(8/19/21) While we haven’t heard any updates on the whole environmental issue that last arose to try and derail The London Resort project, apparently the park has moved ahead to a “pre-procurement phase”. This is where the project invites various industry businesses to make pitches to work on various aspects of the attraction, such as the rides, theming work, offer locker services, purchase systems, etc.
(7/17/21) The latest bump in the long road to build The London Resort has now come to a head as the park owners are objecting to plans to give the proposed park site a protected status as a possible “Site of Special Scientific Interest”. Natural England says that the site has become an “essential refuge” for many rare and threatened animal species to the region. If this comes to pass, it could effectly derail the entire project after years of work.
(4/28/21) Some new information about The London Resort comes to us from BlooLoop this week, where a “Base Camp” dinosaur-themed area was revealed. The plans for this area include two roller coasters, a 1,500-seat “live stage show experience”, an “advanced dark ride”, an interactive excavation themed kids play area and a fine dining restaurant.
The big coaster here will be themed around “the pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus” and will become one of the fastest roller coasters in all of Europe as it soars over the land. The second coaster is said to be a more family friendly creation. The previously mentioned dark ride is said to be a “motion-based 4D ride” that will take you for an up-close review of impressive “sea-dwelling beasts” of the era. They also mention a second dark ride experience that will use ‘gaming technology’ to let the riders tag and track dinosaurs in the wild. Be sure to follow the link to see some impressive artwork of the new Base Camp land.
(3/15/21) Just as things looked like they were starting to show some progress, The London Resort has been hit with another complication. The site of the proposed theme park resort has now been designated a “Site of Special Scientific Interest” as a home for various species of wildlife. The London Resorts CEO says this isn’t too unusual for a major brownfield reclamation project such as this, and they will continue on, with this just being one more thing to address along the way.
“No one knows more about the land than us because we have been surveying and monitoring it since 2012. We are the ones who have found and identified every species.
“We have shared our reports and we are working closely with Natural England to identify the right ecological solutions to deliver this grand project.”
(1/31/21) The long proposed London Resort theme park plan has moved one giant step closer to reality this week as the plans submitted to the “Planning Inspectorate” have now been given approval to move on to the next stage. The bad news is this next phase could take another 12-18 months as the Secretary of State now needs to make their own final decision on the project. There is more push against the park as well, as some local environmentalists are arguing that the site of the proposed park is home to a “rare Distinguished Jumping Spider”.
(1/5/21) The London Resort has submitted a new planning application, now with more details about the various themed lands they have planned for the theme park. There are six themed lands now planned for the park:
The Studios - a warehouse district inspired by blockbuster movies.
The Woods - an enchanted fairytale realm.
The Kingdom - Swords, Knights, Dragons and More!
The Isles - Home to giant creatures and mythical beasts.
The Jungle - Explore the ruins of a lost civilization.
The Starport - A glorious SciFi land of adventure.
In addition to this the resort property will also feature a waterpark, an entertainment & retail area, a convention center, over 3,500 hotel rooms and an E-Sports game arena. More details and artwork showing off the current plans for the project can be found at BlooLoop.
(10/15/20) A few new details and a piece of concept art have been released about The London Resort theme park plans. They go over more about how they plan to develop the site, what kind of effect these plans will have on the area’s infrastructure, employment opportunities and more. Certain aspects of the project have been changed following an 8-week period where the Resort urged the public to take part in a review of their plans and give them feedback.
(7/31/20) The London Resort is starting a major phase of “public consultation” regarding the future development of the proposed theme park resort. According to BlooLoop this phase will take place from now through to September 21.
(6/6/20) The latest developments with The London Resort project says that they have submitted a new draft of plans to the local authorities and is proposing ‘public consultation’ to take place in August and September prior to submitting their final plans before the end of this year. It is great to see some progress finally being made on the project and we hope that this will soon allow them to begin the final design and early construction phase for the park. If things go as planned, the current timeline now will see the theme park ready to open in 2024.
(12/9/19) The London Resort was on hand at the BlooLoopLIVE event last week and released new artwork and a progress update on the plans for the theme park resort. As previously mentioned, The London Resort confirmed partnerships with BBC and ITV Studios and once again with Paramount Pictures.
New artwork for the park showcases six themed lands within the park that will include: The Studios (a warehouse district inspired by blockbuster action movies), The Woods (an enchanted realm of fantasy), The Kingdom (swords, sorcery, dragons and knights), The Isles (mythical creatures and giant beasts), The Jungle (explore ancient ruins) and The Starport (a 23rd Century sci-fi zone).
The new expanded plans actually mention that besides the first theme park to open in 2024, they would like to open a second gate by 2029 on the 535-acre site.
(11/1/19) While there is still a lot of things to be worked out before the London Resort theme
park can move forward, it was mentioned that they have signed a 25-year deal with EDF Energy to provide solar, battery storage and other clean energy to the proposed new theme park.
(9/13/19) Our friends at BlooLoop have posted an interview with the new CEO of the London Resort project where they go over all the details of what has transpired with the project over the past several years, along with what they are working on now to make sure that it happens.
(7/1/19) The dealings with The London Resort park project just keep getting crazier… because after going separate ways with Paramount in 2017 they have now signed a new licensing deal with them once again. Also according to the report at Blooloop, they have signed a new CEO by the name of PY Gerbeau who does have some credentials after serving as the VP of Operations for Disneyland Paris in the 1990’s, as well as the CEO of London’s Millennium Dome project, now known as the O2. At least the opening date hasn’t shifted any further back this time, as it is still listed as 2024.
(6/8/19) Things are not looking too good for the proposed London Resort project. Well, things have been kind of “iffy” for quite some time now as delays pile on top of delays and have pushed this thing so far back (2024??) that most people just don’t expect it to ever see the light of day. After all they started talking about this thing way back in 2012 after all and after seven years, it seems they are no closer to getting it to happen.
Even worse, the deal they had for a global level IP with Aardman Entertainment has now fallen apart after letting the 2015 agreement lapse, with both parties opting not to renew it. Instead they signed a new deal with ITV to use the Thunderbirds IP instead, but at the rate things are moving, I’m not sure that will pan out either.
(12/7/18) We missed this announcement in November but it seems The London Resort project has been officially pushed back again… this time to 2024. Also worth noting is that the financial backer of the project has now taken over control of the project due to a lack of progress being made thus far. According to this article, Dr Abdulla Al-Humaidi has taken a “personal role” in the management of the company as they are now working towards submitting their planning application in 2019. Dr Al Humaidi has been invested in the project for the past five years and promises to “keep the plans afloat financially until a planning application could be submitted.”
(10/31/18) According to a new report the developments of The London Resort project have agreed to partner with Keltbray (a construction and engineering company) who intend to invest £25 million into the resort project. If they are able to move forward, the project isn’t expected to open until at least 2023 at this point, but we wish them well, as the location seems ripe for more themed entertainment opportunities.
(7/26/18) It may be a thrown-away line, but at the end of a BlooLoop article about Doctor Who Escape Games coming soon, they also mention that team involved with the project is also working with London Resort Company Holdings to add the Doctor Who IP to their new theme park project in some fashion.
(7/25/18) While there still hasn't been any major official news regarding the proposed London Resort theme park project, it was reveled that they were planning on building the project up as two different gates, rather than just the one. I don't know if this means a theme park and a waterpark or if they have something else in mind for a second park concept. As for the themed... the only confirmed one is from a deal with Aardman Animation, though we've started to hear early rumblings about possible negotiations taking place for several more.
(12/20/17) While the London Resort Company has delayed the unveiling of the updated plans for the public, they say that this should not delay the intended 2023 opening timeline. According to the latest word the updated plans for the park and resort will be shown sometime in the second quarter of 2018.
(11/9/17) According to an update from BlooLoop, the future of The London Resort could be in jeopardy. According to the report the resort is planning on seeking final planning permission by Spring 2018 to meet their deadline to open by 2023 and if they don't get it, the parent company of KEHE (Kuwaiti European Holding Entertainment) may opt to simply abandon the project.
(10/14/17) Finally some good news for the former Paramount Park London project to address an issue I've been having with the project myself. I've been trying to figure out just what to call it since Paramount was dropped from the project as few months ago and now they finally have a new name.
According to BlooLoop they are now calling it "The London Resort"... or at least they are for now. But they do have a new spiffy logo at least while the work on finalizing the design for the park and looking for media-partners.
(9/30/17) Things are still quietly moving forward on that large theme park project in London, formerly known as Paramount Park. According to this news article a deal was struck with MBNA Thames Clippers to provide direct ferry service across the river to the theme park resort area when it opens in 2023, offering a new and direct method of transportation away from the congested roads.
(6/22/17) The big news in the past few hours has been the announcement from the UK that Paramount Licensing Inc. and London Resort Company Holdings Limited (LRCH) have agreed to end their previous licensing agreement that would have allowed the Paramount name and intellectual properties to be used for the £3.2 billion Paramount Park London project.
Yes... £3.2 billion... which converts to about $4 billion US (or €3.6 billion) which is certainly no chump change. That is a project with a serious budget the likes of which I don't think the European marker has ever seen before. So what does this break-up with Paramount really mean?
I have to admit that my inner "fanboy" was quickly reminded about how quickly other Paramount branded park projects announced over the years have all died off rather quickly. So from that point of view I have to admit that my initial gut-reaction was an almost Douglas Adams / Hitchhiker's Guide inspired, "Oh no, not again."
But that isn't true... because despite it all, the project is still moving forward and has almost been hinting that this was to come based on past actions. For example, it was just a week ago that they announced a new partnership with InterContinental Hotels Group who would manage an estimated 4,000 hotel rooms to be built on site for the theme park resort project. In that particular announcement, while I didn't catch it at the time, LRCH and ICH actually made no mention of the "Paramount" brand name at all.
As part of today's Paramount breakaway, you can see a great video interview with Andy Martin who mentions that this was the right decision for LRCH, indicating that it wasn't Paramount leaving the park, but rather the park leaving Paramount. In fact if you continue to watch, he mentions that this frees up the project to pursue many different IP's going forward, rather that simply being locked to the Paramount catalog.
When you get down to brass tacks, this is actually a very smart move for the LRCH to have made, freeing themselves from the shackles of a single IP holder in order to hand-pick the best of the best out there. For a prime example, you have only to look at what Universal has been doing with their theme parks for decades. Universal always knew that they didn't want to be held only the use of their own IP and would often strike deals with other studios who had no interest in owning their own theme parks in order to secure the theme park rights to numerous IPs over the years.
Just take a quick look over the current attractions at Universal right now and you'll find IPs from many different studios. Men In Black (Sony/Columbia), Simpsons (FOX), Harry Potter (Warner Bros.), Transformers (Paramount), plus the infamous Marvel deal that has been the cause of many headaches for Disney since they bought Marvel.
Speaking of Disney... they were not above the practice either, putting in attractions based on Indiana Jones and Star Wars into their parks decades before they ever purchased the rights from George Lucas.
I've also seen other posts made today where people were already saddened that the park would lose out on a bunch of great themes... though looking at the lists, many of those properties being talked about were not Paramount's to give. I've seen mention of Indiana Jones... which is now owned by Disney, not Paramount. Star Trek? There was a time Paramount had control of Trek, but now they are just using a license themselves from CBS for the property to make new movies. I've seen Titanic mentioned, which has a complex ownership deal between Fox, Paramount and one James Cameron who would have to put his personal stamp of approval on anything to do with it. Transformers? I don't think so... Universal has to have beat them to it by now after installing Transformers rides at both US parks and internationally at the Singapore park. Based on concept art, it looks like we can expect Transformers at the new China park as well. While there could be a loophole for use in the UK, I suspect Universal may have locked up the global theme park rights. So what's left from Paramount that's current and popular? That question is a bit harder to answer, and while Paramount has many fine properties... I don't think they have enough to warrant such an exclusive deal.
As previously announced, LRCH has already signed deals with the BBC and Aardman Entertainment to use various IPs for the park. Now LRCH is saying they are in talks to strike up new deals with various IP owners. In fact, sources close to this project have confirmed to Screamscape that this is indeed the case and that active discussions between LRCH and various IP holders are currently taking place. While I don't know WHO exactly they are in talks with, I would also suspect that Paramount could even be one of them... as they could still try to sign a deal for Mission Impossible (assuming Tom Cruise is willing to play ball).
Instead of being a deal breaker... I think the breakaway from Paramount may very well be the decision that saves this park project from the development hell they found themselves languishing in for the past 5 years.
(3/10/17) According to this latest news article about the proposed Paramount Park London project, it seems the project has been delayed yet again, with the developers now promoting a 2022 opening date. If everything stays on the current schedule however, they say construction work can begin by 2019.
(2/10/17) A bit of possible bad news came to light regarding the proposed Paramount Park project. According to the local news a Chinese investor firm that vowed a £100-million investment into the project has been exposed as a "shell company" that has so far only delivered funds on one small project in the UK. The park developers still insist that the promised investment is still committed to the project and they hope to share more positive news about the park soon.
(4/2/16) The local news reports that the new Paramount Park in London appears to have been delayed, as the developer failed to submit their plans for the project this week, putting a newly proposed 2021 opening date in jeopardy. Officials now say that the plans wont be submitted until a year from now, which is quite the lengthy delay for a project that already been in development this long, which is never a good sign.
(10/21/15) According to this report a Chinese owned construction company named SinoFortone has pledged to invest £100 million into the London Paramount Theme Park and Resort project, as part of an estimated £5.2 billion in various investments into local UK businesses following the visit of China’s President Xi Jinping to the UK. Construction on the new theme park resort is expected to begin in 2017 and be complete by 2020.
(6/17/15) London’s Paramount Park project has posted some new visual information about the project on their website on a “Stage 4” PDF you can download. Included in the promotional piece, designed to answer questions from the public about the project, is our first aerial map of the project site showing off which sections will be used for the park, parking, hotels as well as what looks to be a good ammount of “marsh” space to be left alone on other side of the park. Unfortunately, there appears to be more “marsh” than there does “theme park”.
(4/29/15) A bit more concept artwork from the proposed Paramount Park London has been released showing off various new lands and themes such as Myths and Legends area, a waterfront Port Bay area, Adventure Isle and more. Click here to see the new art.
(2/25/15) Good news for Paramount Park London, the proposed theme park has now signed a deal with Aardman Animations to bring their characters to the park. Aardman is known mostly for their Wallace and Gromit series, Shaun the Sheep and Creature Comforts.
(1/29/15) Screamscape sources tell us that Paramount Park London is slated to hold the next phase of workshops with the public about the new park project over a series of weeks between mid-February to mid-March. We hope to learn more about the evolution of the park from these as they happen.
(12/12/14) Another great step has been taken to help develop the proposed Paramount Park London project, with the signing of a deal with the BBC to license most of their popular franchises to the park for use as attractions, themes and characters to meet. The deal is thought to includes Doctor Who, Sherlock, Top Gear, though at this point in time neither party is willing to commit to confirming which exact properies are included and which may be left off the table due to previously existing deals or complications. For example… it has long been rumored that a Doctor Who attraction may be in the works Thorpe Park for 2016, but this has yet to be confirmed.
(11/18/14) Paramount London now has an official website to review their resort and theme park plans at www.LondonParamount.info where they have posted a schedule of dates where they will be to show off their idea to the public and take public feedback on the project. While there isn’t any new concept art that we haven’t seen before the breakdown on the park lists it as having “over 50 exciting rides and attractions” themed to Paramount’s famous catalog of film, television, games and other products. Of that, there will be at least “12 major rides” as well as several live shows and entertainment acts. The goal right now lists an opening date of Easter 2020 with additional rides and attractions planned to be added in the years that follow.
(11/7/14) A couple of great new renderings for the Paramount London theme park project have been posted over at Disney & More this week, showing off what the park’s entrance plaza could look like, as well as a peek at the park’s futuristic Star Trek themed land with a coaster running through it.
(10/10/14) According to this news update, initial government approval has been granted for the Paramount Park - London project. The current timetable for the project, once they are allowed to begin construction, will see a four-year phased construction timetable, with a planned opening of Spring 2020.
(7/2/14) The group behind the proposed Paramount Park: London has begun sending out invitations to local residents and business to a series of “public exhibitions” to be held throughout the rest of the year where they will show off their plans for the new theme park resort where they will also take feedback from the public to learn about what they like and what concerns they have from the project. Click here to read more as well as find out the dates and locations for the first wave of public exhibitions. I’d encourage any readers in the area to attend to learn more and report back about this new project.
(5/12/14) The proposed new Paramount theme park has taken another step forward this month after being called a “Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project” by the local government. Currently the project is on track to open by 2019 if all goes well.
(12/15/13) Good news for the UK’s Paramount theme park project as the government has now crossed the site off the list of possible locations for a new Thames river crossing, freeing it up for the theme park resort project to move forward when they are able.
(5/22/13) The local news reports that the proposed Paramount Park in London may be in jeopardy as the site for the park was also selected by the Department of Transportation as one of three possible locations for a river crossing route. Click here to find out more.
(4/8/13) In an interesting twist… the proposed Paramount theme park in London has hit a minor snag as the site of the park was discovered to be home to a rare breed of jumping spiders who will end up being rounded up and relocated. (You can count me out of volunteering for that job…)
(12/11/12) According to this news article the man who helped raise the funds needed to secure the London 2012 Olympic Games has been assigned the task of helping the Paramount Park project in Kent become a reality.
(11/30/12) New details about the proposed Paramount Park project in London came out this week as the developer shared a bit more information about his plan. In addition to the theme park, the project area would have an indoor waterpark, theaters, movie theaters, and something called Techno Expo, an exhibit space for future technologies. There is still plenty of development time left here however, as they don’t expect to be ready to begin construction on the project until early 2015.
(10/9/12) In an interesting bit of news, a Paramount Theme Park project has been announced for the London area, with hopes of opening in 2018 on a 272 acre site. You can find a picture showing off a model of the proposed theme park project at The Theme Park Guy, which includes an Entertainment District in the center, and an indoor waterpark and resort on either side of the entrance plaza. The project is a partnership between Lafarge, who already own the large piece of property, Britian’s Development Securities and Brooffield Multiplex of Canada, who are calling themselves the “London Resort Company Holdings”. The group has already apparently signed the deal with Paramount to make attractions and theme the park to their various Film and TV properties.
Now, while this sounds like fantastic news for sure for everyone involved, I do have some reservations myself as to if this will really happen. Over the years I’ve seen numerous park projects, all claiming to have signed deals with Paramount, only to vanish into this air a year or two later. Anyone remember the Paramount Park announced for Japan back in 2004? Paramount Movie Park Korea was announced back in 2007 and appeared to have started ground clearing in 2009, but has yet to open. Paramount Park Spain was first announced in Fall 2010, but appears to have not gotten much beyond the initial groundbreaking ceremony. So lets hope the fact that the property is already owned and that there seem to be serious partners involved this time, that we’ll see this park actually get built for once.
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