Earlier this month, we won A24’s acquisition of an SCP Foundation film from Spooky Pictures and Image Nation Studios, set to bring to the big screen for the first time one of the largest fan-made horror and sci-fi universes on the Internet.
The announcement ruffled feathers, precipitating a unique form of drama. Within hours, we heard from a group known as the SCP Foundation Wiki Licensing Team, who expressed concerns that the studio could claim exclusive rights to a project based on community-generated intellectual property with very specific licensing requirements.
Now, Neon has countered A24 with an SCP Foundation project that expressly addresses the group’s concerns. Development of this project was underway before the A24 was announced, we are told.
Created in 2008, the SCP Wiki is a collaborative speculative fiction website revolving around the SCP Foundation, a secret organization that secures and contains anomalous or supernatural objects and entities to protect humanity as well as the anomalies themselves. Over its nearly two decades of existence and with thousands of contributors, the site has built an engaged, global fan base and inspired short films, web series and games.
Recognizing the project’s community roots, Neon is approaching its SCP Foundation film as an “open source horror project” scheduled for theatrical release against A24 next year. Who specifically will contribute to Neon’s version, and which one will hit theaters first, is not yet clear.
Neon has expressed their commitment to releasing their film and associated material under the Creative Commons CC BY-SA license, meaning they will not permanently control the film. Other creators will be able to copy, share, screen, expand, or adapt the film – even commercially – under the Creative Commons license, provided they credit the SCP creators and filmmakers, release their own adaptations under the same license, and avoid claiming an exclusive distribution deal.
Neon has communicated with the SCP Wiki team to ensure that the film’s distribution does not deviate from its mission and licensing guidelines.
News of the rival SCP Foundation film comes after production ends. 4 X 4: the eventrising genre filmmaker Alex Ullom’s second horror film for Neon, following on the heels of this summer’s film It ends. Other recent and upcoming in-house productions include Osgood Perkins Young people; David Mitchell They follow; Matt Johnson’s The vice-guide; and that of Arie and Chuko Esiri Clarisse.
After the release of Na Hong-jin’s Cannes monster film HopeNeon’s slate for the rest of the year includes other award contenders like Fjord, Paper Tiger, Artificial And A place in hellamong other titles.
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