If you’ve never heard of the SCP Foundation, it’s understandable, but it also means you’re unaware of the internet’s largest fan-built, ever-expanding horror universe that makes the MCU look like an episode of Cheers.
Now, on the back of The Backrooms, A24 has announced that they plan to bring The SCP Foundation to the big screen along with Spooky Pictures, touting their possession of the worldwide rights to the IP.
Interestingly, the movie won’t be a standalone adventure, but rather will be part of an already existing horror anthology IP, the V/H/S series.
WATCH: Full trailer, details & poster emerge from Crystal Lake
According to Deadline: Originating online in 2008, [beginning as a Creepypasta,] the SCP Foundation has since evolved into a sprawling, collaborative mythology created and expanded by thousands of contributors around the world. Encompassing a library of anomalous objects, entities, phenomena and stories, this universe has a lore all its own, involving a secret organization covertly operating to protect humanity from malevolent entities.
“Internet lore is quickly rising as a compelling source of new stories for the horror genre, bringing with it built-in, highly devoted audiences,” say Image Nation Studios’ Ross and Spooky Pictures co-founders Lee and Schneider, “As fans increasingly seek out fresh scares, we’re focused on tapping into the most compelling online worlds in which talent already live, such as the vast SCP universe, and helping them make the leap to the big screen.
“With A24’s expertise in nurturing and elevating internet-born phenomena like Backrooms into major theatrical success, they’re the ideal partner for V/H/S: SCP and we can’t wait to expand the franchise with new, spine-chilling stories together.”
“I would love to go back,” Guillermo Del Toro talks Pacific Rim
However, while this all sounds like it could be a lot of fun and undoubtedly an IP that could spill into movies, TV, books, games and more, there’s one small (I mean MASSIVE) complitcation: the SCP Wiki team, the ones behind the online project, have just issued a letter saying that they have not been contacted by anyone regarding the movie and that means The SCP Foundation is not there just to be used in a movie at the studio’s will, however, they do say that they would be happy to sit down with A24 and work out a way to make this movie.
Read their letter:
The SCP Wiki is a collaborative online horror fiction project, where individual authors (anyone who signs up) can contribute stories to the overall body of work. The main focus of the SCP wiki is the SCP Foundation, a fictional man-in-black-esque shadow government that holds anomalous entities and monsters known as SCPs. Due to its collaborative nature, the SCP wiki operates under a Creative Commons 3.0 license. Recently, a V/H/S movie based on the setting has been announced.
RUMOUR: Carrie and IT: Welcome to Derry are the same world – if true, this is MASSIVE news
The staff and authors of the SCP Foundation Wiki (the real-life writing project behind the SCP Foundation universe and its official home) were not consulted or contacted regarding this film. We have been attempting to contact the filmmakers but haven’t yet been successful. To be clear: we have not had any communication with the filmmakers, producers, or distributors for this project, despite our best efforts, and to the best of our knowledge they have not made any efforts to contact us. Furthermore, A24 does not and cannot have any exclusive rights to anything related to the SCP Foundation, including any films that Spooky Pictures or anyone else may choose to create.
The SCP Foundation, all SCPs, and related concepts, characters, etc. are under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA 3.0) license.
It allows for the production of derivative works, whether commercially or otherwise, subject to certain restrictions. (This is broadly similar to the situation with some open-source software such as Linux, although legal specifics differ.) The “ShareAlike” aspect means that creators of derivative works are obligated to release those works under CC BY-SA 3.0 or higher as well. Many fans have created adaptations of the original project by utilizing the rights granted by our license, including unofficial SCPs, cartoons, dramatic readings, and more. A24, Spooky Pictures, and other involved companies would be able to distribute the film to theaters, stream it online, etc. However:
WATCH: Trailer for long overdue new Hammer horror movie, Ithaqua
They would not be permitted to distribute the film with DRM or other effective technological measures that would prevent it from being copied.
They would not be able to establish any sort of exclusivity with respect to distribution. Just as anyone who follows the license can redistribute and create derivative works based on the SCP Foundation articles on our wiki, anyone will be able to do the same with their film. For example, anyone could upload a copy to YouTube; similarly, any commercial streaming service would be free to stream the film without payment to anyone. (This is why, despite prior interest, no Hollywood films have been created using SCP material.)
They do not have the ability to prevent any of the other interested parties from creating their own works based on the SCP Foundation universe or its adaptations, including their film.
WATCH: Something is hiding in the water in trailer for new series, Below
Similarly, they would not be allowed to impose any terms on theaters that would prevent them from making copies of the film. In conjunction with the above, we would expect to see the film on YouTube on its premiere date (if not before!). If anyone were to violate this license, that person or organization would lose all rights to distribute any works derived from the SCP Foundation Wiki. These are not the only terms of our license, but they are among the most relevant to this situation.
We’d love to sit down with A24, Spooky Pictures, and other involved parties to discuss options for how they could make and distribute a film while complying with CC BY-SA. We chose to release our project under a Creative Commons license to allow fans to tell their own stories as well as adapt ours. We chose the ShareAlike license to ensure that everyone who enjoyed those fan works would have the same rights as the people who created them. We hope that the filmmakers will follow their legal obligations under our license.
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
Nerd Comments