Birth of the Fantasy Universe
The premiere event celebrating the theatrical release of The Lord of the Rings under the Fantasy Universe banner was nothing short of grand. Since both Yoo Jae-won and Tiffany were avid moviegoers, they made sure not to miss it. The orchestrated spectacle mirrored the one held for Harry Potter. They walked the red carpet together with confidence and drew as much spotlight as the cast. In sheer numbers, the attention even surpassed the Harry Potter premiere. The difference lay in the scale of anticipation. Harry Potter naturally appealed to children as its core audience, but The Lord of the Rings was a fantasy film crafted for adults. Moreover, Hollywood buzz suggested the film had turned out exceptionally well. Expectations naturally soared, intensifying media competition and elevating the premiere to an even grander scale.
Interestingly, even with its strong Hollywood reception, The Lord of the Rings had been slightly overshadowed by Harry Potter's momentum. Its original release date had been set for the end of the previous year, but it was pushed back roughly four weeks into late January because of Harry Potter's overwhelming box-office dominance. The film had completely dominated the Thanksgiving season in November and reignited during the Christmas holidays in December. Only after the new year did theater counts begin to drop significantly. Most films peak in their first week and then decline sharply, yet Harry Potter defied that pattern. It was no surprise that The Lord of the Rings had adjusted its schedule accordingly.
Director Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema might have felt a twinge of wounded pride, but in reality they did not. After all, they were family under the same roof. New Line Cinema was a subsidiary of Warner Bros., which made it seamless for Yoo Jae-won to invest capital and technology into The Lord of the Rings. With massive funding and cutting-edge computer graphics at his disposal, Peter Jackson could finally shoot every scene he had envisioned.
Two hours and fifty-eight minutes. That was the length of the breathtaking world of the Fellowship of the Ring unfolding on the silver screen. It was an unusually long runtime for a commercial film. Even more remarkable was that this version had already been trimmed and condensed multiple times. The original novel was extraordinarily long and possessed such exceptional quality that omitting material was no easy task. To avoid criticism from the most devoted Tolkienists, the adaptation had to remain faithful to the source. Ironically, the very reason Peter Jackson—previously known for slasher films—had been entrusted with this monumental project was because he himself ranked among the top Tolkien enthusiasts. His obsessive passion naturally extended the runtime, yet neither Yoo Jae-won nor Tiffany found their concentration waning until the credits rolled. Though the first installment of the trilogy contained fewer dramatic peaks, it rendered Middle-earth more vividly than reality itself, and every character felt alive.
After the premiere screening, the evening continued with a lavish after-party attended by producers, cast members, and VIPs. Like most Hollywood gatherings, it was dazzling. The attendees were already established stars thanks to The Lord of the Rings, so the venue could have been modest and the glamour would still have shone. Yet Yoo Jae-won and Tiffany carried even greater fame and prestige, so they stood out effortlessly. In fact, many actors approached them first. Forming connections with Hollywood's most prominent investor carried undeniable advantages.
Some faces were familiar—Hugo Weaving, whom they had known since The Matrix—while others, like Elijah Wood, were meeting them for the first time.
“So, what did you think of the film?”
After the whirlwind of actors had passed, a noticeably slimmer Peter Jackson approached them, his once-round face now leaner, and cautiously asked for their impressions.
“It was incredible!” Tiffany answered before Yoo Jae-won could speak. She had always loved fantasy, and while she enjoyed Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings struck her tastes even more perfectly.
“Especially Gollum—he was extraordinary. He felt like a living being!” She gave two enthusiastic thumbs-up. Andy Serkis, standing beside the director, beamed with quiet satisfaction. As the actor who had poured his soul into Gollum, the praise was his own. Gollum would become the most talked-about character in the trilogy, a central figure whose corruption by the One Ring transformed him into a grotesque, gray-skinned creature with enormous eyes and a hunched frame. Because no such being existed in reality, he had been created through computer graphics driven by Andy Serkis’s motion-capture performance. ID Entertainment’s technical support had been crucial for Gollum; the studio’s expertise in game development and motion capture had produced a far higher-quality result than anything previously seen.
“I enjoyed it as well,” Yoo Jae-won added with a nod. “If this level of quality holds through all three films, it will be remembered as a landmark work.”
That evening, after returning home from the screening, Yoo Jae-won and Tiffany shared a quiet dinner before he retired to his study and sat before his computer. Normally they would watch dramas or news together in the living room after dinner, but their routine had recently changed. They now carved out roughly an hour of personal time each evening—an unspoken “maintenance hour.” Tiffany, back at Chevron, carried an ever-growing workload as Frederick’s expectations concentrated on her. Though she tried not to bring work home, the pressure had become unavoidable in recent days. Out of consideration, Yoo Jae-won withdrew to his study while she worked. Unlike her, however, he was not focused on business. He usually relaxed by surfing the internet or playing games.
Earlier, he had been browsing 2CH.com, reading netizens’ reactions to The Lord of the Rings. Just as he and Peter Jackson had predicted, the response was overwhelmingly positive. The film delivered enjoyment even to viewers unfamiliar with the source material, while satisfying longtime fans. Only a tiny minority uninterested in fantasy failed to appreciate it.
One thread in particular caught his eye:
“Harry Potter and now The Lord of the Rings—both successful adaptations!”
“If the quality stays this high, next year’s Spider-Man is worth looking forward to!”
“Spider-Man? Is that an ID Group production too?”
“Technically Warner Bros., but there are rumors they’re also planning a Batman film.”
“I just realized how incredible the original content ID Group controls really is.”
The final comment had listed everything from Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings to Spider-Man and Batman.
“Come to think of it, the content I’ve gathered is no joke.”
Collecting intellectual properties had been one of Yoo Jae-won’s ambitions. ID Group had built the information superhighway that formed the backbone of the internet and led the charge in distributing smartphones. Having invested heavily in internet infrastructure, it was only natural to create the content that would flow through it. While establishing Nextcom, the group had also secured Marvel and DC properties. They had reclaimed Spider-Man, improved profitability and recognition through Nextcom’s free and paid serialization models, and added both Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings. Although the original rights remained with their respective license holders, ID Group held exclusive film and game adaptation rights.
“And that’s not even everything.”
Vincent Greenhill’s unexpected Japanese windfall—Shueisha—remained known to only a select few, yet the Xbox-exclusive release of the latest Dragon Ball game had already raised eyebrows. Naturally, ID Group possessed the exclusive right to utilize not only Dragon Ball but Shueisha’s entire catalog. Though the rights were not free and required substantial payments to creators, the added value generated far exceeded the cost.
There was also a hidden joker: the various novels and webtoons acquired through the Million Dollar Challenge. Many webtoons were Korean, while the genre novels leaned heavily toward North American works. Korea was beginning to produce promising titles starting with Monster Plant, but it still lagged behind North America. ID Entertainment’s original game content could not be overlooked either—Blizzard’s Warcraft and StarCraft universes, along with ID Software’s Doom, all held strong appeal.
“Hmm.”
As Yoo Jae-won contemplated ID Group’s formidable library of intellectual properties, an intriguing idea suddenly struck him. The value of the content he had been steadily accumulating would only grow. Dragon Ball, for instance, had ended serialization in 1995 yet remained a powerful cultural force well into the mid-twenty-first century because derivative products kept emerging. Last year had seen a new Dragon Ball game; plans were already underway to reboot the anime with modern computer graphics.
Originally, he had intended to broadcast such content through the network acquired from Time Warner and distribute it globally via Timeflix and Nextcom. Though the NBC merger had altered the route, the overall vision remained unchanged. Now, while reviewing these diverse assets, he conceived an idea that had never been part of the original plan.
“All of our properties share one common thread—they’re fantasy.”
Dragon Ball could be classified as a superpower story, and the newly rising One Piece centered on ability-based battles. Harry Potter featured magic users, and The Lord of the Rings was similar. Marvel and DC heroes required no further explanation.
“We could tie them all together. Something like… Fantasy Universe.”
While gathering heroes from different universes in one place might seem forced, ID Group possessed the power to make it work.
“A game would be perfect for this.”
If the heroes converged in a film, crafting a coherent screenplay would be nearly impossible without the unified tone Marvel or DC maintained. Games, however, offered far greater flexibility. Dragon Ball’s Goku, Marvel’s Spider-Man, DC’s Batman, and even StarCraft’s Kerrigan could coexist without feeling out of place.
“The characters get swept into a storm of time and space and land in the Fantasy Universe, where they compete in various games.”
The phrase “storm of time and space” immediately reminded him of Blizzard’s notorious failure. It would be difficult to squander such a wealth of beloved original characters the way Blizzard had. Their loss of innovation through compromise with reality had been the culprit, yet the core concept remained brilliant.
“We shouldn’t lock the gameplay into a single mode. Multiple modes would let the whole family enjoy it together.”
Characters hurled into the Fantasy Universe could race go-karts, engage in water-balloon fights, blast blocks with bombs, duel directly, or battle in online 5v5 brawls. In an era when Xbox faced criticism for favoring FPS titles, a game the entire family could play together would be ideal—while simultaneously showcasing ID Group’s characters.
“If we also release a PC version, include a map editor, and allow user mods… this could be huge.”
Even StarCraft’s limited map editor had spawned countless ingenious custom maps. A Fantasy Universe game would undoubtedly ignite players’ creativity on an even greater scale.
His mind made up, Yoo Jae-won opened ID Word Processor and swiftly drafted a compelling game proposal. In that moment, the Fantasy Universe that would define ID Entertainment’s future was born.