Paramount Pictures theme park planned for South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea -- Paramount Pictures said Tuesday that developers will open a theme park and resort complex in South Korea in 2011 based on "Mission: Impossible," "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" and other movies by the studio.

Paramount Movie Park Korea will have more than 30 attractions, said Michael Corcoran, president of Paramount Pictures Corp.'s consumer products and recreation group, who predicted it will draw more than 5 million visitors during its first year of operation.

"South Korea is a fast-growing and attractive market," Corcoran told a news conference. "It's a business-friendly market and culturally sophisticated." He also said the park will prove attractive to international visitors.

Plans for theme parks based on the films of Universal Studios and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in South Korea have also been announced with an eye to luring both South Koreans and international visitors, especially from nearby China.

Spearheading Paramount Movie Park Korea's $1.5 billion development is a joint venture led by South Korea's Daewoo Motor Sales Corp. The formation of the venture, which will fund and own the park, also was announced Tuesday.

Paramount Licensing Inc., which handles licensing rights worldwide for Paramount Pictures, is not a member of the joint venture but will manage the park's creative development.

A licensing agreement was signed last December.

Aspects of Korean entertainment and pop culture, popular in much of Asia, will be incorporated into attractions at the park to be built in Incheon, a port city west of Seoul, officials said.

Corcoran said future plans also include the addition of a water park and two resort hotels.

Incheon is home to the major international airport serving Seoul, about an hour's flying time from some Chinese cities.

Paramount Pictures is owned by media conglomerate Viacom Inc.