Cue the creepy theme music! Fox announced on Tuesday, March 24, that The X-Files is returning for a special six-episode event series. The exciting reboot will star original actors Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny, and will be helmed by the show’s creator and executive producer Chris Carter.
“I think of it as a 13-year commercial break,” Carter said in a statement. “The good news is the world has only gotten that much stranger, a perfect time to tell these six stories.”
The original sci-fi series ran for nine seasons from 1993 to 2002, and focused on FBI agents Fox Mulder (Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Anderson), who investigated paranormal activity.
It won five Golden Globes and 16 Emmys throughout the course of the series’ run.
“The X-Files was not only a seminal show for both the studio and the network, it was a worldwide phenomenon that shaped pop culture yet remained a true gem for the legions of fans who embraced it from the beginning,” said Fox Chairmen and CEOs of Fox Television Group Dana Walden and Gary Newman. “Few shows on television have drawn such dedicated fans as The X-Files, and we’re ecstatic to give them the next thrilling chapter of Mulder and Scully they’ve been waiting for.”
Back in January, Anderson spoke on Chris Hardwick’s podcast about the possibility of returning to the series.
“Maybe do something where [Mulder] wakes up from a dream, and he’s been Hank Moody in Mulder’s dream. That was his fantasy,” she suggested of potential plotlines.
The idea was originally mentioned at the January TCA panel by Newman, who admitted that scheduling had been a part of the issue.
A release date for the event series has not been set yet.
