World’s Top YouTuber MrBeast Launches Saudi Arabian Theme Park

Cristiano Ronaldo. Naomi Campbell. Sofia Vergara.

And the latest celebrity brought to Saudi Arabia in the kingdom’s bid to become a global entertainment destination: MrBeast, the most popular YouTuber on the planet.

The online sensation hit 100 billion views this month and is in Riyadh to launch Beast Land, a theme park modeled after his videos that put people through complex endurance challenges to win big cash prizes.

“It’s probably one of the best days of my life,” said the 27-year-old, whose real name is James Donaldson. Reuters before Thursday’s kickoff, in one of at least nine interviews conducted as part of the Saudi PR blitz.

“One of the top requests I get is: I want to be in a MrBeast video… So now we’re (creating) this in real life where you can visit and experience what it’s like,” he said.

Times are changing in the once ultra-conservative kingdom

Over the past decade, Saudi Arabia has rapidly developed entertainment options as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 to diversify the country away from oil and transform society.

Young Saudis grew up with few avenues of entertainment, with cinemas and concerts virtually banned. Outsiders saw the kingdom stuck in time. Both perceptions have changed.

The Saudi capital is now the scene of the Riyadh season, which runs almost half the year with almost daily events, from boxing matches and slapstick to music parties and sporting events.

Lit in neon blue, Beast Land combines theme park attractions like roller coasters with Donaldson’s American Gladiator-style challenges, like a game where the last player to hit a button when it lights up falls into hair-raising destruction.

Donaldson said 70% of his fans are outside the US, and Saudi Arabia was also a natural choice because of the easily accessible studio space to film the latest season of his videos.

“I’d say give it a try, it’s a lot more developed than you think,” he said.

The kingdom is known to attract international talent with huge compensation: Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract with Saudi Arabia’s Al Nasr is estimated to be worth more than $200 million.

MrBeast has caused controversy at times, with Mexico in May filing a lawsuit against a company they say worked with him after he created a video of the nation’s ancient Mayan pyramids.