Six-Episode ‘X-Files’ Reboot Official, Mulder And Scully Filming This Summer
With the X-Files reboot official, as per the announcement earlier today, Fox confirmed it ordered six episodes of the popular show, and that it will begin shooting with the original cast this summer, according to TV Line.
Fox confirmed that it ordered six episodes of the cult classic, which originally aired from 1993 to 2002, and that the storyline will continue from where it left off after its ninth season finale, complete with F.B.I. Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.
This means the decade-long wait for a proper ending will finally be over.
When Fox TV Group chairman Gary Newman, alongside fellow chairman Dana Walden, made the announcement, according to TV Line, they said they were excited to be working with Chris Carter again, who is the show’s creator.
The two said they are also excited to be able to give fans the closure they wanted in, “the next thrilling chapter of Mulder and Scully they’ve been waiting for.”
Some critics disagree with the statement. According to Forbes’ Merrill Barr, “Fox doesn’t actually care” what fans want. Fox knows that a new season means big money, and Fox cares “that Netflix would pay big money to stream the show exclusively,” writes Barr.
In other words, Fox’s X-Files revival is simply a play to make more money on already aired X-Files seasons.
Barr is right: a cult classic such as the X-Files will likely see a renewed interest of older seasons because of the revival. The show was — and is — so popular, and fans so loyal, that they watched despite the show originally premiering on Friday, which is known as the “death slot” in TV land, according to TV Tropes.
The X-Files continued airing on the death slot until Season 4, Episode 3, when it moved to Sunday nights beginning Episode 4, Season 4. Despite getting the death slot, X-Files pulled in enough 18- to 49-year-olds to keep the show on order for the next five seasons.
According to Deadline, Newman confirmed in a January interview that Fox was indeed in talks to revive the X-Files, while fellow chairman Dana Walden said that any conversations the network was having at the time were “only logistical.”
She added the only way Fox Network and 20th Century Fox TV studio would move forward with an X-Files reboot of any kind were if the original players were involved.
This would mean, of course, that David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson would need to be on board, as would Chris Carter, the show’s creator.
It would appear that the network and studio kept their promises.
Today’s X-Files reboot confirmation came with the announcement that the crime-fighting duo would reprise their roles as Mulder and Scully.
While the X-Files reboot is official and it will be filmed during this coming summer, an airing date was not yet announced. It is likely we’ll see the X-Files on the small screen again the next soonest season after filming is completed as is possible.
[Photo Credit: Fox Broadcasting/Getty Images, Kevin Winter/Getty Images]
