After decades of chasing Dragon Balls, it seems that Goku has finally reached Paris, this time with Saudi support.
France and Saudi Arabia announced on Monday an agreement worth roughly six billion euros to develop a massive entertainment city near Paris, partially inspired by the world of the famous Japanese manga and anime series Dragon Ball Z.
The project will be located in the Cergy-Pontoise area northwest of the French capital and will feature three entertainment cities, expected to create around 22,000 jobs, according to the Élysée Palace. A launch date has not yet been set, and construction is expected to take several years.
The project represents a new chapter in Franco-Saudi relations, which have seen remarkable expansion in the cultural field in recent years.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in France (AFP)
To understand this partnership, one must return to AlUla. In 2018, France and Saudi Arabia signed a governmental agreement to develop AlUla economically, touristically, and culturally, establishing a specialized French agency to support the project. Since then, France has become a key partner in areas including architecture, urban planning, arts and culture, heritage, and cultural tourism, as well as education and training.
But the relationship did not stop at a single archaeological site. With Vision 2030, the scope of cultural cooperation expanded to include museums, monuments, arts, cinema, training, tourism, entertainment, and digital technology. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs describes cultural cooperation between the two countries as rapidly developing in parallel with the transformations taking place in the kingdom.
In December 2024, the French and Saudi Ministries of Culture signed ten new agreements covering heritage, museums, libraries, archaeology, and cinema, alongside training. The partnerships included collaborations with French institutions such as the Grand Palais, the National Library of France, the National Center for Cinema, and the National Institute for Heritage.
In 2025, Villa Hegra in AlUla added another dimension to this relationship. The project was designed as a space for cultural programs, creative residencies, and dialogue between artists and creators, becoming a symbol of Franco-Saudi cultural cooperation.
What stands out about the Dragon Ball project is that it takes this relationship into a different realm: popular culture and global entertainment. After focusing on heritage and the arts, the partnership now enters the world of characters and fantasy universes that have become an economic and cultural cross-border industry.
Here lies the wider significance: Saudi Arabia is investing in culture as part of its vision to build a diversified economy and global presence, while France provides its cultural expertise and institutions. Thus, France has become a key cultural partner for Saudi Arabia in the process of redefining its cultural image.
French President Emmanuel Macron in AlUla, Saudi Arabia in 2024 (Instagram)
Between the two parties, culture is transforming from merely a tool for diplomatic exchange into a field for investment and the soft power industry.
And Goku, who crossed continents onscreen, today does so in reality, in a project that blends Japanese fantasy with Saudi ambition and French expertise.
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