KakaoPage Expands IP Business with Film Investment and Distribution Companies

"Expanding the Universe and Characters of the Movie 'Seungriho'"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-gyu Lee] Kakao Page announced on the 25th that it has joined hands with the film investment and distribution company Merry Christmas to pursue a new intellectual property (IP) business.

Three years ago, Kakao Page highly evaluated the artistic value of the film "Space Sweepers," which Merry Christmas was planning, decided to invest in its production, and began a joint project to build the "Space Sweepers IP Universe." Sharing the Space Sweepers worldview, Merry Christmas will produce the film, and Kakao Page will create a webtoon, releasing both around the same time. Following this, they plan to expand the Space Sweepers universe and characters through various story formats.

Space Sweepers tells the story of the crew of the space junk collector ship Space Sweepers in 2092, who discover a humanoid robot named "Dorothy," known as a weapon of mass destruction, and become involved in a dangerous deal. The film Space Sweepers stars actors Song Joong-ki, Kim Tae-ri, Jin Seon-kyu, and Yoo Hae-jin.

This is the first time Kakao Page has decided to invest and co-develop IP from the early screenplay stage at a company-to-company level. Starting with Space Sweepers, Kakao Page plans to take a full-fledged step forward as an IP business operator rather than just a webtoon provider. Like the MARVEL series, they aim to create a structure centered on a solid worldview and characters that can continuously generate stories, thereby expanding the IP's life cycle.

From the early stages of its business until now, Kakao Page has invested more than 700 billion KRW in leading domestic writers and publishers (CPs) to secure competitive IPs. As a result, it holds the largest number of original IPs in Korea and has established an "IP pipeline" capable of continuously supplying IPs to domestic and international markets. Jin-su Lee, CEO of Kakao Page, said, "We aim to take another leap forward through a new paradigm in IP business," adding, "Through the IP universe, we will expand the life cycle of individual IPs and strengthen a virtuous cycle structure where writers, CPs, and partners grow together."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.