Chris Carter Has Written a Third ‘X-Files’ Movie

Little more than a week out from the return of The X-Files, the once and future Fox drama is pretty much inescapable. But for all the aggressive marketing and promotion on the part of its cast and crew, there are apparently some inexhausted anecdotes.

Creator Chris Carter revealed Friday morning at the Television Critics Association’s press tour that before he was approached about doing the event series, he’d written a third X-Files movie — and that script has nothing to do with the six episodes about to air.

“I actually wrote a third movie, just because I was interested in the idea of where that might go,” said Carter, who then thought of repurposing the script for the series. “I let my wife read the third movie, and she said, ‘I think not for television.'”

Instead, Carter says he revisited some other material he’d written about his famous franchise (“It was less on spec. I call it a study, if you will.”), so that the other script is still on the table. With talk of revisiting The X-Files yet again, Carter seemed to be most keen to do more for television. “I’m waiting for Fox to come back and ask for more,” said Carter. “Then we’ll talk about it.”

Just a half-hour later, Fox bosses Gary Newman and Dana Walden addressed the likelihood of doing the show again — reiterating that scheduling David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, each of whom has very full dockets, is an obstacle.

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“The biggest impediment to going forward with The X-Files was the schedules of David and Gillian,” said Newman. “Even the other night at the premiere, we were all laughing and joking about doing this again.”

This latest version of The X-Files premieres Jan. 24. Watch the latest trailer below: