Europa-Park Rust is expanding. Into the cinema. Just in time for the 49th birthday of the world-famous German theme park, Michael Mack, Head of the Mack Group, announced the cinema release of the animated film „Grand Prix of Europe“, which will turn Europa-Park characters Ed and Edda into action heroes and will be released in exactly one year’s time, distributed by Warner Bros.
In exactly one year, Europa-Park Rust will be celebrating its 50th birthday – keyword: „Project 2025“. You are having a lot of ideas for the anniversary, but in their your usual manner, you are not looking back, but looking forward and opening up to new areas of business. Including a step that seemed obvious to me. What do you have to announce?
Michael Mack: We have just officially announced that we will be releasing the first full animated film with Ed and Edda Euromaus, our characters since the start of Europa-Park and also our most important IP, in the cinemas with Warner Bros. in time for our anniversary – „Grand Prix of Europe“. The production will be done entirely in Germany, in Hanover at Mack Animation, the former Ambient Entertainment, which produced the first CG animation film in Germany in 2004 with „Back to Gaya“ and is still managed by the renowned filmmaker Holger Tappe. We are now taking this step outside the park and hope that it will be as popular as Europa-Park has been for almost five decades now.
The first question that springs to mind: Why is this seemingly obvious step only coming now, why not earlier?
Michael Mack: There’s a nice German expression: cobbler, stick to what you know. I myself am the oldest in the eighth generation. We look back on a tradition that is sacred to us. That’s why it took a long road of persuasion, of persuasion work, especially with the seventh generation, with my father, who founded Europa-Park – incidentally against his father’s opposition at the time. It is not an easy decision for us to invest money in a film. Up to now, we have primarily invested in infrastructure, in hotels and rollercoasters, in adjustments to the park. That is the business model we have learnt and that we know. We know exactly what the bottom line is. A new rollercoaster brings us 300,000 more visitors. That’s not necessarily the case with a movie. It’s a separate business model – but it costs just as much as a new rollercoaster. It wasn’t an easy path. So I’m all the happier that we started production a year ago and that I’ve now been able to officially announce „Grand Prix of Europe“.
Are you financing the film entirely from your own resources? And how were you able to win Warner Bros. as a co-production and distribution partner?
Michael Mack: That’s right, we’re covering the costs, but conversely, we also hold all the rights and have complete control over the brand. Warner Bros. has always been a good partner for Ambient Entertainment over the years, starting with „Back to Gaya“ and most recently with the „Happy Family“ films. Holger Tappe has therefore developed a long-standing and excellent business relationship, originally with Willi Geike. We are keeping that alive. I would also like to thank Warner Bros. very much, but in this case I am only involved in a secondary capacity. My team at MACK One is actually the better point of contact in matters like this.
But you had the idea of bringing Ed and Edda to the big screen.
Michael Mack: For me, it’s a childhood dream come true. My background is in rollercoaster construction, my family runs amusement parks. I myself grew up with Euromaus, who was given the first name Ed in 2015. The character is a constant companion in my life, but also in the lives of many loyal park guests. And now Ed and Edda are coming to the big screen all over the world. This is of course an important business step. But it’s also a very emotional event for me.
If the film turns out well, it will be a good rollercoaster ride on its own.
Michael Mack: Hopefully not with so many ups and downs. I would like it to be mainly uphill. The high point of a rollercoaster ride is when it goes downhill. In a film, it’s the other way round, it’s all about the ups. That’s what I’m aiming for.
What does an Ed and Edda film have to bring to the table to meet your expectations? And the expectations of the huge fan community, which plays no insignificant role?
Michael Mack: You have to differentiate between two things. Firstly, there are the Park fans who have memories of this Euromaus going back almost 50 years. It is extremely difficult to fulfil their expectations, but not impossible. In any case, we take the fans very seriously. On the other hand, we have set ourselves the goal of making an entertaining film that appeals to a large audience, which cannot only consist of the Europa-Park fan community. The film has to appeal to people who have no connection to Europa-Park, who don’t know it, perhaps have never even heard of it. My requirement is: „Grand Prix of Europe“ must be entertaining, it must have a certain irony, a wink. And it must be able to work independently. If people come out of the cinema having been entertained for 90 minutes, then we’ve done our job well. It’s not supposed to be a promotional film for Europa-Park, but a coherent film adventure that is fun for audiences all over the world.
You run a theme park that is all about storytelling. You tell stories with your rides, involve new, self-created characters and offer emotional experiences. Hence the final question: Is „Grand Prix of Europe“ a one-off step into the cinema? Or is it the beginning of a new path in which you can draw on a variety of worlds and characters?
Michael Mack: When you own an animation company, it’s natural to continue making animated films. We have split Mack Animation into 50 per cent amusement park business and naturally want to continue supplying the industry with media content via MACK Rides. And we have a 50 per cent pipeline for cinema films. That’s a very attractive starting position. Under our MACK Magic brand for family entertainment, we also have Snorri and the Rulantica water world and many other figures and worlds in our portfolio. After all, we have already sold over 600,000 books with Coppenrath Verlag, which offer potential for further stories. Now we are waiting to see whether we can meet the quality expectations of cinema-goers with an entertaining film with „Grand Prix of Europe“. My hope, of course, is that it is the beginning of a new, exciting business area for us – and not the end of it.
The interview was conducted by Thomas Schultze.