Expect more penguins, pandas and dragons around Universal theme parks in the future.
NBCUniversal Chief Executive Officer Steve Burke talked with analysts Tuesday at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2016 Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference. He touched on several parts of NBCUniversal’s business, including theme parks and films.
Burke said NBCUniversal’s recent purchase of DreamWorks Animation will boost the company’s ability to churn out animated films, doubling the number to four annually. Also, he said, “all the DreamWorks characters will start to emerge in our theme parks, in attractions and characters…”
DreamWorks franchises include “Madagascar”, “Kung Fu Panda” and “How to Train Your Dragon.” DreamWorks also distributed “Shrek”, which already had a presence in Universal Orlando thanks to a licensing agreement.
Burke said the DreamWorks acquisition will provide more fodder for NBCUniversal’s fledgling consumer products business too. DreamWorks’ consumer products business is roughly the same size as Universal’s.
“Putting the two together and allowing us to accelerate some of the efforts already underway is a good thing,” Burke said.
Universal Parks and Resorts has attractions in Orlando, Hollywood and Osaka, Japan. The company recently bought a majority stake in the Japan park.
A Beijing theme park should open in 2020. NBCUniversal is making good progress on that project, Burke said.
China is a hot market for the industry right now. The Walt Disney Co. opened a theme park resort in Shanghai this summer. “Disney was told by Shanghai we want you to be the big U.S. theme park here and we have been told by Beijing we will be the big U.S. theme park in that city,” Burke said.
“We’ll own 30 or 40 percent of the park. Our partners are on the same schedule to get the park open by 2020,” Burke said. “We have full models and drawings. We know what attractions will be there. We’ve got complete agreement on sort of the way the structure of our arrangement’s going to work…We have hundreds of people currently working on the project and look forward to getting it open in a few years.”
Universal will own the theme park with Beijing Shouhuan Cultural Tourism Investment Co., Ltd. (BSH Investment), a consortium of four state-owned companies.
Burke said he sees potential for Universal to open theme parks in other countries too.
The attractions, he said, will provide significant double-digit operating cash flow growth for many years.
“Out of all the businesses in some ways I think over a 10 or 20 year period, it’s the clearest vision we have for how to expand at a very rapid rate for a very long period of time,” he said.
spedicini@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5240; Twitter, @SandraPedicini
