X-Files Sequel Starting Production

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are reuniting with X-Files creator Chris Carter for a long-bruited sequel to the 1998 film, previously delayed by now-settled legal wrangling between Carter and Twentieth Century Fox over syndication profits.

A second X-Files film has been rumored and discussed for a decade, but this time it's for real: the sequel begins production Dec. 10 in (of course) Vancouver, according to Coming Soon and other sources. The timing of the production's start may be related to the script for the film having to have been completed and locked down before the looming Writers' Guild strike.

The film is set for release July 25, 2008. Variety and other news reports have Carter directing, as well as co-writing and co-producing with Frank Spotnitz, who also co-wrote the first film with Carter and wrote many of the more memorable episodes of the X-Files series.

What the film is actually about, though, is a closely guarded secret.

All that's been announced about the plot of the as-yet untitled films is that it's going to be a "supernatural thriller" and will develop the relationship between Mulder and Scully "in unexpected directions." But then, all of that can be taken as read under the heading of "X-Files sequel." The studio is stressing that the film is a "stand-alone," according to press reports, which presumably means that watching it won't require encyclopedic knowledge of the plots and twists developed through the original show (and then largely left hanging when The X-Files went off the air in 2002). So the film is clearly intended to be accessible to casual fans, which is a good thing: Fox wants to repeat the boffo nearly $200 million box office of the first film by drawing in all and sundry for a summer blockbuster suspense thriller. But this also suggests that X-Files 2 won't be the venue for resolving longstanding questions left over from the series.

Gillian Anderson was quoted in April as saying that Carter intended to make the new film a "really scary horror" movie rather than "touching on any of the conspiracy stuff." That last comment alarmed a number of fans, who see the conspiracies as inextricably bound up with the ethos of the original series. (I'm sympathetic to those who find the twists and machinations a lot more interesting than the relationship between Mulder and Scully, which serves better as a sauce than a meal.) It should be noted that since at that point Carter wasn't talking about the film's story even with the two leads, Anderson's comment can be categorized as informed speculation.

Duchovny seems excited about revisiting Mulder, now that the grind of series production is a thing of the past. "Absolutely, it would be fun," he told my colleague Rebecca Murray while promoting The TV Set, also in April. "We’re all gung ho and we’re just waiting. I guess there are things to figure out. I guess people are talking about a strike. They’re trying to get it done before things like this." Duchovny noted back then that the film already had a plot worked out – "but I don't know it."