SONY Pictures Entertainment will open a theme and water park based on popular characters from films produced by Columbia Pictures next month in Thailand as it seeks to cash in on a rebound in tourism.

The Columbia Pictures’ Aquaverse will open on Oct 11 in partnership with local developer Amazon Falls, in Bangsaray, about 90 minutes from Bangkok, according to a joint statement on Thursday (Sep 15). Attractions will include characters from movies ranging from Ghostbusters to Jumanji to Hotel Transylvania, they said.

The opening of the park, initially scheduled to start operations in phases a year ago, coincides with a revival in global tourism and scrapping of most pandemic-era travel curbs. The South-east Asian nation expects to attract as many as 10 million tourists this year and about 30 million visitors next year.

The licencing partnership is a low-risk way for Tokyo-based Sony to exploit popular characters from its library of movies and TV shows, which include megahits like Jumanji and Men in Black.

“The Columbia Pictures’ Aquaverse is the next step in Sony Pictures’ larger global strategy to grow and expand location-based entertainment by utilising its globally known film and TV brands,” Jeffrey Godsick, an executive vice president at Sony Pictures, said in the statement.

The 14-acre (5.7-hectare) park, located in an area already home to 5-star beach resorts and restaurants popular with tourists, will continue to open new attractions in the future, the companies said. BLOOMBERG

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