12 October 2011 Last updated at 10:59 ET

Asterix attraction coming to the UK

The Asterix Tour will include stops in France, Spain and the UK

A "themed attraction" built around the French comic book character Asterix is to open in Germany next year.

The exhibition will then tour major European cities for five years, with a London stop scheduled for 2014.

The news coincides with the appointment of a new artist and writer following co-creator Albert Uderzo's decision not to carry on with the series.

Jean-Yves Ferri and Frederic Mebarki will write and draw the next Asterix album, due out in 2013.

Martin Biallas from promoter SEE Touring Attractions told BBC News he expected between 200,000 and 500,000 visitors in each city of the Asterix tour.

Its launch in Germany next autumn will coincide with the release of a new 3D Asterix film.

Asterix and Obelix: On Her Majesty's Service will see French actor Gerard Depardieu play the role of Obelix for the fourth time.

According to Regis Marsac, director of Asterix publishers Les Editions Albert Rene, Uderzo has chosen "very good people" to inherit his mantle.

The 84-year-old illustrator, who invented the warrior Gaul with Rene Goscinny in 1959, has been writing Asterix books by himself since Goscinny's death in 1977.