Planet Hollywood Reports $8 Million Revenue Before Closure At Disneyland Paris

Themed restaurant operator Planet Hollywood has revealed that its outlet at Disneyland Paris generated $8.1 million (€7.5 million) of revenue in 2021, just under a year before it closed as part of an overhaul of the resort’s dining and entertainment district.

The restaurant was set inside a soaring blue sphere which was packed with movie props including the board game from Jumanji, one of the supposedly sacred Sankara stones used in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and a battle-damaged mannequin which stood in for Arnold Schwarzenegger on the set of Terminator 2.

Even the exterior walls around the base of the restaurant got a sparkle from stars as they were lined with handprints from A Listers such as Paul Newman, Dudley Moore and Sylvester Stallone who was also a stock holder in Planet Hollywood’s parent company.

Its outlet at Disneyland Paris stood at the entrance to the 44,000-square-meter Disney Village entertainment district next to the resort’s two theme parks. The complex hasn’t changed much since it opened with Disneyland Paris 31 years ago. It was designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry and has an industrial style which was popular in the 1990s. There are brushed steel pillars, bare concrete paths and shops in warehouse-like units.

In 2018 we revealed that this austere appearance would get a makeover and last year Disneyland Paris confirmed it. In keeping with the local region the complex will get a new rustic look as well as a park and a promenade.

The first fruits of the renovation will be seen later this month when the medieval-themed King Ludwig’s Castle restaurant reopens as an English pub. It will be followed by a new French brasserie with the full transformation of the site taking several years.

Last month the refurbishment brought the curtain down on Planet Hollywood at Disneyland Paris which had been there since July 1996, when the themed restaurant operator was in its heydays. The restaurant opened with all the glitz and glamour of a Hollywood premiere starting with a photocall with Sylvester Stallone and Gerard Depardieu followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Whoopi Goldberg.

Just three months earlier Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and his then-wife Demi Moore visited New York’s Nasdaq stock exchange to ring the bell which kicked off Planet Hollywood’s first day of trading as a public company. Then, one of the most frenzied buying sprees in the market’s history propelled its stock in value from $1.9 billion at opening to well over $3 billion in just three hours.

British hospitality entrepreneur Robert Earl founded Planet Hollywood and got Stallone and his pals involved as celebrity stock holders. He also embarked on a rapid expansion of the chain which ended up being a recipe for disaster.

As the restaurants’ novelty wore off, repeat business nose-dived. Customer numbers fell by 2% in the company’s first year on the Nasdaq and by 11% the following year. Over expansion sent Planet Hollywood $156 million into debt by 1999 and into Chapter 11 bankruptcy at the same time.

In true Hollywood style there was a sequel as the company emerged from the brink only to collapse again in 2001. As we reported in 2017, Earl has re-invented the Planet Hollywood brand once again by partnering on hotels. The first was the 2,500-room Aladdin in Las Vegas which Earl re-branded as a Planet Hollywood Resort and casino and sold it in 2010 to gaming giant Harrah’s, the forerunner of Caesars EntertainmentCZR
. Since then Earl has added other Planet Hollywood hotels in Cancun, Costa Rica and Goa.

He has also pared back his Planet Hollywood restaurant portfolio to just five and the flagship is on the sprawling Walt DisneyDIS
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World complex in Orlando. Like its former counterpart in Paris, it is set inside a giant globe which was originally bright blue. It was given a redesign in 2016 to fit into the surrounding Disney Springs shopping and dining district.

Disney Springs wouldn’t be out of place in Beverly Hills with shops inside structures which look more like Mediterranean mansions than a mall. The buildings have cream walls, terracotta tiles on the roofs and fountains in front of them. It’s all spotlessly clean and packed with little touches like period music playing from hidden speakers and fairy lights wrapped around the palm trees.

The complex is styled after towns in central Florida which developed around natural springs in the early 1900s and Planet Hollywood’s sphere fits into the theme as it is meant to be an old-fashioned observatory. Its day-glo exterior has been switched for a steel and grey color scheme lined with spotlights which act as a beacon for the restaurant at night.

Earl revealed to us that renovating the restaurant cost north of $30 million and brought it into line with the brand’s stylish new trajectory. “We have graduated what we do to being a more lifestyle and aspirational brand taking you away from your normal life and trying to give you little bit of entertainment. It isn’t about Arnold, Bruce and Sly and an old themed restaurant chain.”

This is no exaggeration as the Planet Hollywood at Los Angeles’ LAX airport doesn’t even feature any movie memorabilia. It is a far cry from the early days of the brand and shows it has come so far that it can stand on its own two feet without the need for celebrity endorsement.

Back in 2017 Earl told us that “there is a plan to renovate the restaurant in Disneyland Paris but Disney are evaluating what they are doing first. That lease is also about to expire.” He added “we are discussing with them about Planet Hollywood there but corporate in California haven’t yet decided what to do.” The discussion didn’t have a happy ending.

In September last year Planet Hollywood released a statement saying that “the time has come to officially announce that after more than a quarter of a century as an iconic landmark in The Village at Disneyland Paris France, the Planet Hollywood restaurant will be permanently closing its doors as of Saturday evening 7th January 2023 when our lease with Disneyland Paris expires.” It can’t have been an easy decision.

As we recently reported, French law requires businesses to compile annual financial statements and this even extends to individual restaurant outlets. Recently-filed documents for Planet Hollywood (France) show that in the year to December 31 2021 the restaurant’s revenue rose 49.8% to $6.5 million (€6 million) and it received a further $1.6 million (€1.5 million) giving it a total of $8.1 million (€7.5 million). It is a blockbuster performance given that the restaurant was closed for almost half of the year due to Covid.

Its revenue was $1.5 million higher than that of the local Rainforest Cafe and nearly four times the amount generated by King Ludwig’s Castle as shown in the graph below.

However, Planet Hollywood’s revenue in 2021 was still sharply down on its total before the pandemic when it came to $14.2 million (€13.2 million) in 2019. As the restaurant emerged from lockdown in 2021 its costs surged 49.1% to $7.6 million (€7.1 million) with one of the biggest components being the $2.3 million (€2.1 million) spent on salaries. This left the company with a net profit of $391,763 (€364,943) giving it a total of $1.5 million (€1.4 million) over the five years to the end of 2021.

It appears that this will be the final act for the restaurant. Disneyland Paris has been removed from the list of restaurant locations on the Planet Hollywood website and French hospitality giant Groupe Bertrand has become the new star attraction at Disney Village. It has taken over the operator of the Rainforest Cafe and King Ludwig’s Castle and will also operate the upcoming brasserie. Time will tell whether it has Planet Hollywood’s magic touch.