‘The X-Files’ Could Continue After Fox’s New Miniseries

Those who think the upcoming X-Files miniseries will be the last time we’ll see David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reprising their roles as Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully may want to hold that thought. Creator Chris Carter recently unveiled that, in addition to the miniseries, he also wrote a script for a third X-Files movie.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Carter had written the script for a third X-Files movie before Fox had asked him to do the upcoming miniseries. So the script that he has written is in no way related to the episodes viewers will see on their television screens in less than two weeks. But there was a time when he was considering taking the script he had written for the third X-Files movie and reworking it for the miniseries, after Fox had approached him. But, while talking at the Television Critics Association press tour, Carter was told by a certain someone that what he had written would better be suited for the big screen.

“I actually wrote a third movie, just because I was interested in the idea of where that might go. I let my wife read the third movie, and she said ‘I think not for television.'”

For the time being, talks of a third X-Files movie are on hold, and there is no word on if or when it will be pushed forward into the production phase. What Carter had written for the upcoming miniseries is based on some previous material he had already thought up for the franchise. As of right now, X-Files fans will get the six-episode miniseries, but it’s uncertain if there will be any more episodes after that. But if Carter does want to continue the franchise, it appears he might have more interest with keeping it on television for now.

“I’m waiting for Fox to come back and ask for more. Then we’ll talk about it.”

One of the biggest concerns about continuing the popular series was the availability of its two leads, said Fox CEO Gary Newman. Though they both came back for the X-Files miniseries, Duchovny and Anderson are both very busy people. Duchovny is set to do another season of his hit NBC drama, Aquarius, according to his IMDb page, and Anderson has The Fall and several other projects she’s working on.

“The biggest impediment to going forward with The X-Files[miniseries] was the schedules of David and Gillian. Even the other night at the premiere, we were all laughing and joking about doing this again.”

The last time X-Files fans saw Mulder and Scully on the big screen was in 2008 with The X-Files: I Want to Believe. During an interview with Vulture last year, Anderson had mentioned that she, Duchovny, and Carter had all thought a third X-Files movie would get made to put the final touches on the franchise.

“I think we realized that we needed to wrap up the story in some way. [But] we got to a point where that was clearly not going to be possible.”

With The X-Files returning to television on January 24, reviews of the new miniseries have slowly started to appear. And, as the Inquisitr previously reported, critics don’t seem that impressed with it thus far. Only the first episode was screened for them in advance, but from what some reviewers saw, it didn’t appear that it would be as great as The X-Files was back when it initially aired. Some questioned whether it would even be worth watching, considering how disappointing the first episode was. Others are hoping for the best, and that it will turn out to be a good miniseries overall.

Are you excited about the new X-Files miniseries?

[Image credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images]