Wynn Tower Growing

LAS VEGAS -- The $70 million water-themed theater at Wynn Las Vegas is expected to be a strong money-maker for the lone Strip megaresort now under construction.

Construction of the theater is well under way, and will be finished about eight months before the property's scheduled April 2005 opening, Strip developer Steve Wynn said.

"The walls are up; he gets the theater in September," Wynn said of Franco Dragone, director of the property's first production show.

The theater and the production together will cost about $100 million, but Wynn Resorts will capture a big chunk of the revenue Dragone's show creates, according to a recent Securities & Exchange Commission filing that spelled out some details of the show's finances.

Dragone also directs Celine Dion's show at Caesars Palace and previously directed Cirque du Soleil's productions, "O" and "Mystere."

Some industry insiders criticized Caesars Palace for negotiating a deal with Celine Dion that doesn't pay the company a share of ticket revenue, and Wynn has said he wouldn't negotiate a similar deal.

Wynn Resorts is required to pay Dragone's production company for up-front creation and licensing fees, as well as production costs.

Wynn estimated those costs for Dragone's show at about $30 million.

Once the production opens, Wynn Resorts would pay Dragone's company a royalty of 10 percent of net ticket revenues and retail sales and 50 percent of the show and retail profits.

The deal lasts 10 years from the show's opening, and Wynn Resorts has one option to renew the show for five years.

Wynn said the project footprint leaves space for a second showroom.

That showroom won't be built until a new show is decided on; modern resorts demand custom rooms designed around the show rather that multi-use showrooms, he said.

Meanwhile, Wynn said construction is proceeding smoothly on the $2 billion project, now less than 18 months away from its slated opening.

What will soon be Las Vegas' tallest hotel tower grows by an additional floor every week, and the property's signature mountain will begin rising above ground level in January and should be completed by Easter, Wynn said.

"We're on floor 37 this week after hitting 36 last week," Wynn said of the property's eventual 50-story, 613-foot hotel tower.

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