Jul 24, 2024 8:00am PT
By Andrew Wallenstein, Robert Steiner
As if it wasn’t ubiquitous enough as digital video shorts or games, “Skibidi Toilet” may be headed for a future as long-form content, too.
The controversial animated internet sensation is being developed for TV and film treatment by director Michael Bay and former Paramount Pictures president Adam Goodman, who sat last week for an exclusive interview about their plans for Skibidi on the latest episode of Variety’s “Strictly Business” podcast.
“We are absolutely in talks right now, both on the television side and the earliest conversations right now on the film side,” Goodman said. “But it’s not a be-all, end-all for us.”
That Goodman is even presenting migrating Skibidi IP to TV or film as an option is a testament to the audience size the property has amassed on YouTube and Roblox, where the monetization opportunity is ample. As a new Variety Intelligence Platform data analysis makes clear, the audience growth for all things Skibidi has been staggering.
On Feb. 7, 2023, Alexey Gerasimov uploaded an 11-second video to his YouTube channel DaFuq!?Boom! called “skibidi toilet," which featured a head emerging from a toilet singing. Little did he know it, but the then-23-year-old from the former Soviet republic of Georgia had launched a genuine cultural phenomenon.
Skibidi gradually evolved into more than 70 1-to-5-minute mini-epics depicting the infinitely escalating war between the Toilets and the Cyborgs. Each video is explosive, violent and free of any discernible dialogue. Those qualities have won it a worldwide audience, not to mention the distinction of being a cultural icon Generation Alpha can truly call its own.
For a film biz veteran like Goodman, who with Bay now runs what he dubs a "Tra-digital" independent studio called Invisible Narratives, what Gerasimov has created with Skibidi has potential up there with what he's seen previously from his past work shepherding memorable characters to the silver screen. "He's building something that could be the next 'Transformers' or could be a Marvel universe," he said.
When Skibidi makes the jump from digital to physical form this fall as merchandise, the licensing deal that will put the internet sensation on the shelves raised eyebrows when it was announced in May because of Invisible Narratives' involvement.
Yet no mention was made then that "Transformers" helmer Bay isn't merely toying with branded action figures and puzzle games — he's working closely with Gerasimov on content.
"I will say that Michael and Jeffrey Beecroft, who's his longtime production designer and a colleague of his that's worked with him on all of his movies, have been working very closely with Alexey to really professionalize the kind of back engine of this, to make sure, if we ever decide to go film or television, that this is kind of lifted beyond just the resources that creators have on the internet," said Goodman.
While he would not specify any particular studios or entities with which he is in discussions, Goodman said they are entertaining the thought of a hybrid animated/live action version of Skibidi he likened stylistically to the "John Wick" and "District 9" movies.
"If we find a partner in this that really believes there's opportunity for this to grow and to really see the storytelling grow and for this to be where we hope this can be, then film and TV seems like a natural extension for us," Goodman noted.
If Skibidi can cross over to multiplexes and/or streaming services, it would be the latest example of prominent digital-native IP attempting to cash in off-platform after amassing an audience online.
From YouTube’s reigning star, MrBeast, securing a TV deal with Amazon to top-ranked kiddie franchise Cocomelon coming to theaters courtesy of Universal Pictures, it’s becoming something of a rite of passage for the elite self-made brands on social media to test the waters in Hollywood.
The next test comes Aug. 16, when another kiddie favorite, “Ryan’s World the Movie: Titan Universe Adventure,” arrives to more than 2,000 screens nationwide via PocketWatch Inc., having bypassed the studio system altogether — akin to the distribution strategy employed by the Taylor Swift concert film last year.
What’s even more unusual, Goodman revealed, is Invisible Narratives has a counterintuitive strategy in which they allow dozens of YouTube creators to render their own video content at arm's length rather than crack down on unauthorized works, because it amplifies the power of the brand. (VIP+ subscribers can see a breakdown of all the YouTube channels in the Skibidi Alliance — click the link below.)
VIP+ Analysis: Flushing Out Audience Data on the Internet Phenomenon That Is ‘Skibidi Toilet’
"That's one of the things that is really different than anything that we've worked with before," said Goodman. "Typically we issue takedowns; we're ready to make sure that nobody is messing with something we want to control. In this case, we've taken a very different approach to this. We want creators to play with our IP. We want to make sure that people are doing things, obviously within reason, so long as it kind of follows a certain guideline for us."
Roblox, another online sandbox platform with a massive Gen Alpha audience, hosts dozens of “Skibidi Toilet”-inspired games made by fans. “Skibidi Toilet Tycoon,” for instance, has had over 75 million plays in just 11 months, while “Skibidi Toilet Multiverse” logged 10 million plays in its first year.
A lot of digital ink has already been spilled attempting to explain why Skibidi Toilet took off in such meteoric fashion. Some have deemed it a horror spectacle with grounds for moral panic, others say it's the symptom of internet-induced brain rot.
But make no mistake: Skibidi is a cultural moment. There’s fan art on Pinterest, fan-made merchandise on Etsy, even fan fiction on Wattpad.
YouTube has proven to be a breeding ground for animated series with breakout potential like Skibidi as of late, from "The Amazing Digital Circus," which just locked in its own licensing deal this week, to the Minecraft-driven creations of the YouTuber Bravura.
“Strictly Business” is Variety’s weekly podcast featuring conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. A new episode debuts each Wednesday and can be downloaded on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher and SoundCloud.
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