Fans of the dearly departed hit Fox series, The X-files, may have reason for rejoicing. Fox chairman and CEOs Dana Walden and Gary Newman announced earlier today that they’re in talks to resurrect producer Chris Carter’s hit series. The series was a big hit for Fox and ran from 1993 -2002, and led to two feature films and a spinoff series, The Lone Gunmen.
Walden and Newman are hopeful that if the series returns, that perhaps David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson will also return in their original roles of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. This could be somewhat problematic considering that both Duchovny and Anderson may have prior commitments.
Walden stated “Gary and I both worked [at 20th Century Fox Television] through the entire run of The X Files. It was a great experience. We’ve maintained good relationships with Chris, David and Gillian. We’re very hopeful, but it’s hard. The actors are very busy. They have a lot going on. Chris has a lot on his plate, so it’s just trying to carve out the time.”
According to Entertainment Weekly, Duchovney is set to appear in an upcoming event series titled Aquarilus and Anderson has a recurring role on Hannibal. Since both of their current series are with NBC, a rival to Fox, each would have to contractually break from their respective series obligations before committing to a Fox relaunch of the X-Files.
The original series centered on two FBI agents, Dana Scully and Fox Mulder, who are thrown together to investigate unsolved cases involving paranormal, supernatural, and even preternatural events. Scully is a skeptic who is completely grounded in reality, and is brought in to debunk any reasoning outside the realm of science. Mulder, on the other hand, is a true believer that keeps working the cases because he believes “the truth is out there”.
If the reboot goes ahead without Duchovny and Anderson reprising their lead roles, it may likely mean some alteration to the original premise. In the event that the lead characters are changed, one welcome plot element would be the possibility of recurring appearances of Scully and Mulder throughout the series.
Let’s open this up for discussion to all of you X-Files fans out there. Would you like Duchovny and Anderson to return as Mulder and Scully, or would you prefer to see new lead characters? What changes would you like to see made to the storyline of the series. if any? Should Chris Carter be involved? Or would you rather they just let the series rest in peace?
Personally, I would love to see what Chris Carter and the folks at Fox could do with the X-Files now, but again that’s my opinion. As the reader, your comments on the subject are most welcome – so feel free to leave them below.