The SCP Foundation Has Formed a New Creative Partnership With Neon

A few weeks ago, A24, along with Spooky Pictures and Image Nation Studios, announced its intention to make an anthology film inspired by the internet horror forum SCP Foundation. It would be styled as “a new extension of the V/H/S horror series” and get a theatrical release, according to a press release. That would break ranks with the previous several V/H/S films, which were all released straight to Shudder—including the upcoming music-themed installment, V/H/S/Mixtape. One problem. The studio, which was seemingly aiming to follow up on the success of Backrooms with a similarly internet-sourced film, hadn’t checked in with the people behind the SCP Foundation, who soon released a statement denouncing the project. Among their very valid complaints was that all work created for the site, including concepts and characters, is released under a Creative Commons license with specific terms regarding sharing, adapting, and attribution. Though the group was open to discussion, “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.” Fast forward to today, and a new SCP Foundation (“Secure, Contain, Protect”) film has just been announced, this time from Neon. The press release makes no mention of the A24 film or the V/H/S series, but it does say the quiet part out loud: “Neon is committed to releasing the film and related materials under the Creative Commons license CC BY-SA, and [has] been in communication with the SCP Wiki team to ensure the film’s distribution does not deviate from their mission and licensing guidelines.” The project will see Neon “develop and produce an anthology feature based on the beloved community fiction project The SCP Foundation. With a focus on emerging filmmakers, NEON will contribute to the long-running open-source horror project and release the film theatrically in 2027.” Soon after Neon’s press release went out, the SCP Foundation shared its own statement. The SCP Foundation staff says that Neon is committed to being “in compliance with our CC BY-SA license in both letter and spirit. As is our standard practice for unaffiliated projects like this, we’ve provided assistance with licensing issues as well as basic advice about the SCP Foundation body of work.” It’s worth reading the statement in full—it clarifies “This is not an ‘official’ SCP Foundation film, as staff does not endorse such projects in our official capacity,” nor will they financially benefit from it—as well as the note at the end specifying that Neon’s film “is not associated with any previously announced projects.” io9 reached out to Neon for additional details, including any comment on the A24 film, and will update if we hear back. So are we getting competing SCP Foundation films in theaters next year, or do you think A24 will drop its hot potato and move on? Want more io9 news? Check out the best movies and TV shows to stream this month and all the upcoming sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books that should be on your radar.