Genting Malaysia Berhad (GENM) is alleging in a lawsuit that it spent $750 million on a Kuala Lumpur amusement park that Disney and Fox pulled out of.
The company says in its suit that it signed a licensing deal with Fox in 2013 for the rights to intellectual property including Ice Age and Planet of the Apes, that were to be featured in the park dubbed “Fox World,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. The attraction was supposed to feature a resort complete and casino, as well.
GENM says it was supposed to have a soft opening for the park at the beginning of 2019 but that Fox was being uncommunicative and showing signs of “seller’s remorse.”
“On information and belief, Fox’s soon-to-be owner Disney was now calling the shots, and its objective was no longer renegotiation… but termination,” states the complaint. “Unlike Fox, which was perfectly happy to have the Park situated a stone’s throw from the casinos of Resorts World Genting so long as it could continue to extract financial concessions from GENM, Disney wanted no association with a gaming company like GENM due to Disney’s ‘family-friendly’ brand strategy, as evidenced by its well-documented history of lobbying against the opening of gaming facilities near its parks.”
The plaintiff is now seeking to recoup the $750 million investment, plus more than $1 billion in punitive damages.
Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.
