Many film critics describe the current state of television as the medium’s golden era, because of the quality of writing, acting, and directing on display. The early signs of the new age television arguably began in the 1990s with series like The Sopranos and The Wire, both of which have been credited with helping TV feel more cinematic.
There are other 90s shows that have been instrumental in pushing the medium forward. Twin Peaks, for example, had a huge cultural impact when it debuted in the early 90s and, although it was canceled before it could conclude, was incredibly influential for future shows. The X-Files is arguably the series that was most inspired by Twin Peaks, not only because of the casting of David Duchovny (who appeared in both) but also because of the refined, extremely creative approach to the writing. The X-Files has now been going on and off for the last 30 years, an incredible achievement that shows just how much audiences have enjoyed the franchise. However, now appears to be the perfect time to conclude this monumental sci-fi story, as its best days are most likely behind them and creator Chris Carter appears to be reusing old ideas in the newer stories. For a possible conclusion, a movie could end up being the best format for The X-Files, in part because it allows the writers to go bigger and grander with the alien story than they ever have before.
The X-Files franchise is best known for its television series, particularly the seasons that aired in the mid 1990s. As stated, The X-Files revolutionized public TV at the time, providing a prestige quality to the average police procedural that hadn’t really been seen before. As one of the most popular shows in its era, The X-Files was nominated for numerous awards, including at the Emmys and Golden Globes. Both David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, who play Fox Mulder and Dana Scully respectively, won some of these television awards.
Despite their success on TV, there have been two X-Files movies that have ultimately had divergent outcomes. The first was The X-Files: Fight the Future, which was the biggest movie in the summer of 1997 and proved to be a huge hit with audiences. That movie, which was released in between seasons 5 and 6, helped the show to reach huge new heights on TV. The other film was The X-Files: I Want To Believe, a follow-up to the original fun of the series that brought back Duchovny after he left and was more like a one off episode of the show than a continuation of the main alien storyline. The second film didn’t perform very well at the box office, however, and was received poorly by fans and critics alike.
Despite the unfortunate failure of I Want To Believe, The X-Files would be smart to conclude with a movie. For starters, it’s unclear how much longer David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson will actually want to continue playing these characters. Anderson, for example, has stated she has no interest in returning to the franchise at all, which would be a huge blow to any potential continuation. However, Anderson could perhaps be convinced to return if a movie was being made rather than several episodes of a new season, as the latter would take significantly longer to film.
Many of the best stories in this series have come through the episodic, one off nature of some of the outings, so that could potentially be lost while concluding a movie. However, the flip side of that argument is that around the successful one-off episodes are several mediocre, confused main plot line outings. That was certainly the case with seasons 10 and 11, which had amazing episodes like Mulder and Scully Meet the Weremonster but also a startlingly lackluster overarching plot line that included Scully getting pregnant via aliens, alien invasions, and a pandemic, all three of which have featured in some capacity before.
Having a movie conclude the journey of these two main heroes could provide a slimmer, less dense outlet that could bypass many of the issues of the later seasons. Telling one strong story across a 90-minute film, for example, could give Chris Carter the kind of focus he needs in order to best serve these characters. As stated, now would also be the best time to make that potential new film.
Gillian Anderson might need some convincing to return, but David Duchovny seemingly does not. He has stated time and time again that he is willing to return to the role of Fox Mulder in the future and has even gone as far to say that he’s simply waiting for a phone call from Chris Carter and Fox. Ultimately, it seems like an inevitability that this story will continue, regardless of whether it’ll be a movie or show.