They aren’t hanging around either! Over the weekend the site had a ton of hardware delivered. There’s 4 big diggers, crushers and 6 large (for the UK at least) trucks on site.
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I think it will likely be part of a phase 2 expansion
Yeah, can you imagine Universal doing something as ridiculous as basing an attraction, or hell, even an entire land, on a defunct franchise?
BTTF is probably the most universally beloved trilogy ever. And the merch is still a big seller at the parks. F&F is extremely divisive, with most of its ticket sales coming from China
As for New Line Cinema, it’s been a subsidiary of Warner Bros. since 2008. If the division of WBD goes through as planned (provided Paramount-Skydance can stop licking fascist boot) it will become a sub subsidiary of Netflix. And to tie on with the topic I posted after the sale was announced, Netflix was quick to announce an intention of expanding into the theme park territory.
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Take your point on the Dark Universe but I suspect they have not ruled out reviving that idea for future films. Plus it gives them something Disney doesn’t have. See how quickly they copied EPIC with the Villains Land extension at MK? I adore BTTF and prefer it to the awful Simpson’s stuff they currently have but if they had any thought of trying that in the UK they’d have tried it first in Orlando. They need to spend a ton of cash on those 2 parks and BTTF would’ve been a quick fix. Instead they’ve done a deal with Disney to keep Simpsons there for another 3 years, I think.
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Incorrect. There hasn’t been any updates in over a year. The licensing arrangement is still set to expire in late 2027/early 2028. The last indicator was Disney adding questions to their guest surveys about the possibility of the Simpsons coming to DHS.
Also, for what it’s worth, Disney has been flirting with the idea of a “Dark Kingdom” for a long time. I think Dark Universe was just the kick in the ass they needed to finally put it into action.
And Universal is definitely aware of what the people want. They were teasing us with Easter eggs implying RRR was being replaced by BTTF or Ghostbusters. But I think ultimately, the deciding factor was the overwhelming desire to see Supercharged demolished. I’m not certain, but I suspect they were required to keep F&F represented at the park. Besides, just because it didn’t get the rollercoaster doesn’t mean BTTF isn’t coming back. Hill Valley is in NorCal, so San Francisco could be a good place for a new attraction.
Interesting. They often do things like that in surveys don’t they? Disney did one not too long ago ago about Simpsons. The current deal expires in 28 actually. I’d mis-remembered it. Rumours suggest they’ll do another 5yrs. Disney have a new Simpsons movie on the way but it’s not a good fit for them. I suspect Universal will keep it for a while longer unless that’s where the plan to put the Pokemon stuff but the tired Marvel area is a better fir for that and that used the Spiderman ride in USJ for the Pokemon attraction. With the current phases busy until 2031 they have time to see the impact or otherwise of the Simpsons. getting back to USUK how long was it beyond the EPIC announcement that we got details of what was to come? I don’t remember that or how close their original concept art was to the finished one. I may look that up. The coaster in the UK has planning to be the tallest in Europe at nearly 350ft so they can go a bit mad if they want to. Still cannot see them risking that on an old franchise. Then again I’m not sure it matters. If you build they will come. Right? Look at Tron. Awful movie, awful sequels and a pretty poor ride and it’s still popular. 
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I know Disney asked about the Simpsons in their guest survey. I said it in my last post.
Unless they finally manage to get their hands on the rights to DC Comics characters (and DC Studios has said they’re ready to expand beyond Six Flags, which is dying fast) Universal is going to hold on to Marvel forever. I’m sure Disney wants to offer to buy them out of the contract; when they’re ready, Universal needs to make them double the price. Then they can reinvest that money in a new DC land.
The concept art for Epic Universe is near perfect to reality. All that was missing is an extra restaurant in Celestial Park outside the portal to Paris, and an amphitheater in Dark Universe which would’ve featured a Van Helsing stunt show (Curse of the Werewolf sits in that spot)
No one is thinking of the biggest draw for a BTTF coaster – 88 miles per hour!