It appears it’s now safe to do so, as the award-winning sci-fi series The X-Files is headed back to television after 13 years, with stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson confirmed to return as FBI Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.
The show, which debuted in 1993 and went on to become one of the longest-running sci-fi series of all time, will return as a six-episode “event series” co-produced by Chris Carter, the creator and executive producer of the original series. According to Deadline, the project is the culmination of nearly a year of discussions regarding the series’ potential return — discussions that were bolstered by the successful return of the series 24 as a 12-episode event series in 2014.
“I think of it as a 13-year commercial break,” said Carter of The X-Files‘ return. “The good news is the world has only gotten that much stranger, a perfect time to tell these six stories.”
During its nine-season run, The X-Files followed FBI Agents Mulder and Scully (and later other FBI agents) as they investigated all manner of unexplained phenomena. An over-arching narrative involving alien abductions (and a possible invasion) also became an ongoing plot point in the series.
While it’s been 13 years since the final episode of The X-Files aired on television, it’s been just under seven years since the last feature film, The X-Files: I Want To Believe, premiered in theaters. Subsequent fan campaigns have pushed for another movie, but official talk of the series’ return in some form started picking up steam last year.
“We had the privilege of working with Chris on all nine seasons of The X-Files – one of the most rewarding creative experiences of our careers,” said Fox TV Group chairmen Dana Walden and Gary Newman. “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.”
Shooting for the new event series is set to begin this summer.
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