Hollywood Studios embrace live experiences amid film, TV gloom

Netflix Inc has had over 70 marriage proposals at the Queen’s Ball, a touring version of its hit show Bridgerton.

The events, which involve picking an attendee to be honored by the queen, are frequently posted online, according to Greg Lombardo, who heads the live experiences business at the streaming TV service.

“It just creates such conversation out there and supports that title in between those season releases,” Lombardo said Friday at an industry event.

Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. and other entertainment companies are looking beyond films and TV shows, opening hotels, restaurants and other attractions to deepen their relationships with viewers. Unlike other parts of the business, where participants lament budget cuts, tepid movie ticket sales and jobs moving overseas, the attractions business is booming

Paramount Global’s hotel portfolio has expanded to 1,500 rooms from 200 in the past three years, according Marie Marks, who leads the company’s experiences business. Another 2,000 rooms are in development, tied to classic Paramount films and its Nickelodeon kids brand.

Warner Bros., which is building a Harry Potter studio tour attraction in Shanghai, also has a hotel adjacent to a theme park in Abu Dhabi.

“The appetite to go out and do stuff has never been higher,” said Peter van Roden, executive vice president for themed entertainment at the company. “The hotel’s just killing it down there.”

The three were among the executives speaking at a conference run by the Themed Entertainment Association, a trade group representing attractions designers.

Walt Disney Co. said in 2023 it planned $60 billion in capital expenditures at its experiences division over the next decade. That includes introducing new cruise ships and theme-park rides. Comcast Corp.’s Universal experiences division is in the midst of its greatest expansion, which includes a $7 billion theme park opening in May in Orlando, a horror-themed attraction in Las Vegas and a park for younger kids outside of Dallas.

“We are really looking into these different markets and really expanding the product that we already deliver,” Eric Parr, a senior vice president who leads the creative studios at Universal, said on a panel at the event.

Not everything sticks. A high-end, Batman-themed restaurant in London closed after two years.

“That was not really about money-making,” van Roden said. “It was about how could the DC franchise do an amazing, really cool eating experience.”

Netflix has opened restaurants such as Bites in Las Vegas, which serves food tied to its TV shows, including Orange is the New Mac (and cheese) and a Love Is Blind cocktail.

The company is establishing two, year-round Netflix Houses in malls this year, one in suburban Philadelphia and another in Dallas. They’ll feature experiences like waltzing on a Bridgerton set and the glass bridge challenge from Squid Game. Touring experiences have appeared in over 100 markets and can be tweaked to include local culture, Lombardo said.

There are some Netflix programs that may not work for the immersive experience, such as Ozark, which involves money-laundering, Mexican drug cartels and the occasional body being found in a lake.

“I’d be hard pressed to expect a lot of people to go to that,” Lombardo said.