Becoming a pirate in an immersive game inspired by the manga “One Piece” or participating in a fair organized by Merlina Addams is what Netflix proposes in its first theme parks in the United States.
For its first “Netflix House”, which opens on Wednesday, the American streaming giant has chosen one of the largest shopping centers in the country in King of Prussia, on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The openings will follow in Dallas (Texas), on December 11, and in Las Vegas (Nevada), in 2027.
Entry to the almost 10,000 square meter space, decorated with the theme of the platform’s most famous productions (“Bridgerton”, “Stranger Things”, “Squid Game”, “KPop Demon Hunters”), is free.
Activities, which also include mini golf, a cinema, a restaurant and a souvenir shop, are chargeable.
For a few years now, Netflix has offered these types of experiences for a limited time. So far there have been about forty activities in about 350 cities.
However, faced with the difficulty of finding spaces large enough to house them, “it became clear that we would have more flexibility if we had a permanent location,” explained the company’s marketing director, Marian Lee, during a meeting with the press on Monday.
Netflix opted for shopping centers in the suburbs of Philadelphia and Dallas, where the activities offered will change regularly, with the aim of making them “a regular destination” for the local population.
In Las Vegas it will be a very different space. “It is not inside a shopping center, but on the Strip,” the city’s main avenue. “The audience is different. They are tourists who come and go (…) so we will schedule the activities a little differently,” Lee explained.
Asked by AFP about the cost of these projects, Lee said she did not have “exact figures” but assured that it was a “huge capital investment for both the space and the manufacturing of the sets.”
At the moment, there are no similar projects planned outside the United States.
