Star Trek

Looking above and beyond the sun, the only other white whale of comparable size is Star Trek. For better or worse, it does have a track record.

Star Trek: Operation Enterprise is currently launching guests to the final frontier at Movie Park Germany.  The queue wraps its way around a recreation of the USS Enterprise bridge, circa The Next Generation. That should disqualify it from this list along with fellow runners-up Ghostbusters and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but the crucial difference is scale. The greater Trek franchise accounts for 13 films,  12 shows, and a Barnes & Nobles worth of printed media. One roller coaster, no matter how elaborate the line, just can’t cut it.

Star Trek: The Experience remains the obvious gold standard. Built on the unfortunate side of the Vegas-is-for-families boom, the Experience turned a Hilton ballroom into a shrine. The Deep Space Nine Promenade was replicated down to the Romulan Ale. Costumed aliens and crew alike mingled at Quark’s Bar and hung around the gift shops. By the end of its run, two major attractions were included with admission - Klingon Encounter, warping visitors directly into Next Generation, and Borg Invasion, doing the same for Voyager. The Experience was originally designed to fit within a parked replica of the Enterprise, but leveler budgets prevailed. Still, there’s never been anything like it, before or since.

Star Trek is on a verge it hasn’t been close to since the 1990s, then with three shows airing near-simultaneously and films releasing alongside them. Today, Discvoery, Picard, and Lower Decks are ongoing, with two other series in the works and multiple big screen voyages languishing in development. The iron is hot, possibly as hot as it ever gets for a legacy franchise like this, though Paramount parent Viacom is eying an upcoming Trek cartoon as a direct gateway to theme parks.

A futuristic cityscape or indoor space station celebrating the franchise’s timeless spirit of exploration would extend its reach beyond streaming services and provide an underserved environment for whichever park makes the deal. As with Lord of the Rings, Universal is the popular guess, specifically for Epic Universe. But with construction on the horizon and no lucrative announcements made, it’s a shot in the dark at best. Given that the Trek cartoon in question will be airing on Nickelodeon, the franchise is just as likely to make a smaller splash at one of those parks.

The Matrix

This is the dark horse candidate. The Matrix endures more as an idea, a shorthand piece of pop psychology, than a franchise. Memory may paint the contentious second and third films as misfires, but the trilogy earned $1.6 billion around the world. Even without a big screen follow-up in 18 years, the mythology has weight. Blue pills and red pills still mean something. But what would a Matrix attraction even look like?

Since the first film changed cinema in 1999, despite Warner Bros. occasional efforts, the franchise has been shepherded solely by the Wachowski Sisters. Any theme park adaptation would require their vision and oversight. It could only push the medium. The easiest way out is some kind of coaster that starts by waking riders out of the simulation and, once self-aware and superpowered, launches them back inside to corkscrew around an army of agents. Simple and effective, maybe, but underwhelming given the source material.

The technological advent that really makes this a tantalizing possibility is projection mapping. The iconic binary rain, a special effect once reserved for post-production, could now fill a room and trace everything in it. That means a perfectly ordinary set could dissolve into its base code in real-time, right before disbelieving eyes. It’s only one trick, and not the toughest required - who knows what bullet time would or even could look like in entertainment design - but it’s an exciting start. Early rumors about The Matrix: Resurrections, this winter’s belated sequel,  hinted at a metatextual slant in the plot, possibly taking place in a world where the movie already exists. Whether or not that turns out to be true, it provides equally fertile ground for a theme park experience, where the world can change dramatically for a few minutes and go back to normal as if nothing ever happened.

Recent rumblings from Warner Bros. suggest the studio is already toying with the idea after the success of Warner Brothers World Abu Dhabi. Any attraction that comes of it will have to settle for being the world’s second Keanu Reeves-themed ride, after the John Wick coaster opens in Motiongate Dubai.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Once upon a time, Sonic the Hedgehog was the coolest character in the world. The Sega Genesis outsold the Super Nintendo two-to-one during the Christmas of the original game’s release. The so-called “Blue Blur” wagged a disobedient finger over all of Sega’s arcades, serving as a cross-cultural ambassador in countries like Taiwan, Australia, China, and the United Kingdom. For the first and arguably last time, it seemed like Super Mario might be left in the dust.

Super Sega World, however, will not be anchoring Universal’s Epic Universe. Nintendo and its golden plumber won the long game. On March 31st, 2001, Sega ceased production of the Dreamcast, ending its run as a console manufacturer. Not long after, the former archrivals shook hands. Sega would produce games for other consoles, including Nintendo’s. Sonic and Mario have been workplace friends ever since. What qualifies the hedgehog for this list is his 2020 blockbuster, the third highest-grossing release in the United States and sixth around the world.

According to recent reports out of Japan, that box office has inspired Sega’s return to themed entertainment. An entire Sonic theme park may be headed to the UK sooner rather than later. Even if it everything does go according to plan, that could and should only be the beginning.  As for the movies, a sequel is already in the can. As for the games, Sonic is still among the most recognizable video game characters in the history of the medium, and every game includes its own array of exotic locales and gameplay possibilities.

The most famous Green Hill Zone, reimagined as a sleepy little town in Montana for the big screen, is an obvious choice for a base environment. The loop-de-loops and checkerboard mountains are iconic, but may be a little too close for comfort to Super Nintendo World. Not to worry - even Sonic’s forested zones vary by miles. Mushroom Hill Zone, glimpsed briefly at the end of the movie, would suffice. A techno wasteland inspired by Dr. Robotnik’s insidious inventions covers a different extreme. For pure eye candy, nothing beats a casino zone at night. Alton Towers briefly operated a standard spinning coaster as Sonic Spinball, but that’s just the tip of the hypothetical iceberg. More complex, multi-launch systems could match speed with story. Every other Robotnik boss fight could pass for a flat ride - the final battle of the original game is pretty much Sonic avoiding an out-of-control drop tower.

With Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on track to release next year and a video game reimagining due soon after, the Blue Blur is on track for his biggest comeback since the 1990s. Hopefully it won’t be long before fans can celebrate in person, at spin-dash speeds