I grew it up in a nerd family, my father a Star Wars geek, my mother a Trekkie. While they disagreed on most entertainment-related things, there was one unifying element: The X-Files. Premiering in 1993 on Fox, the show centered around two FBI agents Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) whose job it was to investigate the strange and unexplained around the world. In dealing with all sorts of phenomena like vampires, psychics, and especially aliens, The X-Files went on to become not only a mainstream success, but for a brief time, a cultural phenomenon making superstars out of Duchovny and Anderson.
To capitalize on the success, The X-Files hit the big screen in 1998 to a decent reception and box office take. After that, it was always suspected another movie would reach fruition, but as time went on, it didn’t seem like it was going to happen. Then the show went off the air in 2002 and interest began to wane, making the chance for another movie go from “non-existent” to “absolutely boned.” At least it seemed that way, but by a miracle, a second film was finally released in 2008. Armed with the subtitle I Want To Believe, it had the opposite effect of the first film; instead of dealing with aliens and otherworldly phenomena which had been their calling card, the movie was more a crime thriller and fans and critics alike were not satisfied. With such an anemic box office take and unwelcoming response, many closed the door on The X-Files becoming a trilogy. That is, until now.
Screen Rant has reported that David Duchovny has said that a script for the third film is currently being written. Their source comes from a French site called TV Mag, but the folks at X-Files News were kind of enough to roughly translate it. Here’s what Duchovny had to say:
“[The X-Files 3] is in the process of being written. One awaits just the green light from Fox, a little disappointed from the relatively poor reception of the second film. The error comes, in my opinion, that the authors strayed too far from the roots of the series. Moreover, the film was released in the summer. The third will be much closer to what the public expects, with government conspiracies, etc.”
Interesting stuff, but it doesn’t mean the movie will go into actual production. As Duchovny said, Fox is hesitant to green light another movie after the other one essentially failed at the box office. However, I think there is a place in the world for a third X-Files movie; provided the script does what he says and goes into the government conspiracies and extraterrestrial involvement. I think it would not only grab the fans back, but also new people who never watched the TV show. Only time can tell if Fox will take the chance.
Would you want to see a third X-Files movie, or are you still feeling burned by the second one?