The knowledge that THE X-FILES would be returning for a 10th season/mini-series with the original cast was enough to bring me to tears. Knowing that it did the same for star David Duchovny shows just how special this series was for both cast and fans. Duchovny recently received the first script for the mini-series set to debut next year on FOX and told Entertainment Weekly that while he cannot divulge plot details, it was fantastic.
“I just read it about an hour ago and I started crying reading the first page. It was just so strange to see the names on the page. It had nothing to do with the script itself. It was just like, I’d been talking about this for a long time. We’d been planning it for a long time. It took a long time to get all the people in the same place and get the deal with Fox. So let’s say two years we’ve been talking about doing it. Now it’s the fun part. Now we actually get to do it. That was nice and strangely emotional for me, and I’ll have to figure out how to use that [in the performance].”
The mini-series revival of THE X-FILES will see the return of Duchovny and co-star Gillian Anderson as well as supporting castmates William B. Davis and Mitch Pileggi. Duchovny said that just because this season will be a limited six episode run, it doesn't mean there cannot be more mini-series in the future.
“I would be open to doing another cycle,” Duchovny said. “I don’t know that I could do a 20-episode version of this show at this point in my life, and I don’t know that Gillian could. But I think everybody is open ended on what happens after this. Certainly, we didn’t bring it back with the idea of ending it.”
FOX tried a similar approach with 24 which ran a limited series last year. The ratings were not as good as they used to be, but that series also did not have the fan-base that THE X-FILES has accumulated over the years. While series creator Chris Carter did authorize an official comic book continuation that is considered the tenth season of the show, there is no indication the new series will be based on those books or even acknowledge them. If you have read them, then you know if they do use them as the basis for the mini-series, we are in for one heck of a ride.
The return of THE X-FILES goes into production in just two weeks and will debut on FOX on Sunday, January 24, 2016.