Earlier this summer, we learned the V/H/S movies were expanding with a movie focused on the SCP Foundation. As it turns out, things are more complicated than that initial announcement.
On Friday, Deadline announced A24 gained worldwide rights to the SCP movie and planned to give it a global theatrical release. Yes, Backrooms has been a hit this year, but the studio’s had other winners this decade, including Undertone from earlier this year and 2024’s Civil War. It’s a big get for the studio and V/H/S as a whole: since 2021, the films have released on Shudder, including this year’s Mixtape movie.
The second and third V/H/S film had limited theatrical runs and made tens of thousands during that time, while the original film made $1.9 million. That was in 2012, though, and in that time, horror’s become a much bigger genre that can have some long legs. Given SCP is a collaborative sci-fi/horror project that’s been going on since 2008, the movie can be an easy entry point to theatregoers.
It’s surprising, then, to hear the actual SCP Foundation doesn’t actually have anything to do with the film. In a statement to AVClub, the Foundation explained its people tried reaching out to the A24, the filmmakers, and producers, and never got a reply back. What’s more, it said Deadline’s “incorrect” in A24 having worldwide rights, citing terms from the wiki’s Creative Commons ShareAlike license that allows the entire enterprise to exist.
Under the license, derivative projects made using the SCP name have to abide by ShareAlike’s rules. Specifically, for this movie to fit within those parameters, the studio would have release it DRM-free and without “any sort of exclusivity with respect to distribution,” aka on YouTube and other streaming platforms at no cost, without taking legal action.
The SCP Foundation called out the V/H/S: SCP filmmakers for “having no interest in engaging with the authors or curators of the material they’re adapting.” Nonetheless, it’s open to sitting down and discussing what can be properly done to make the film comply with its license. Given the movie’s vague 2027 release window, there’s plenty of time for more developments and information on the situation to emerge.
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