 MOVIES |  | WIZARD SET VISIT: THE X-FILES | | Scully and Mulder return for what may be the beginning of a new cult following for the classic TV show | | | By Stephen Schaefer and the Wizard Staff | | Posted 07/03/08 | |  | |  An enormous monster bounds around the set of the new "X-Files" movie. And nobody really seems to mind all of the ruckus or slobber it creates winding around cameras, actors and crew. In fact, most of the time, it sets its sights on director and "X-Files" creator Chris Carter. And barks.
Here in a makeshift soundstage, a converted warehouse at the Pacific National Exhibition Fairground on the outskirts of Vancouver, British Columbia, the 51-year-old Carter is the polar opposite of his canine companion, all contained energy and quiet power as he paces around the wintry set.
"Okay, I've got to go do a shot," Carter explains to his pooch after an assistant calls him to action. Not exactly what the dog wants to hear, but the director has shown a knack for taming all kinds of beasts and aliens during his nine years helming a hit TV show oozing with them.
The shot in question is the reunion of the cult hit's two main characters, former FBI agents Dr. Dana Scully (the skeptic, played by Gillian Anderson) and the reclusive, now-bearded "believer," Fox Mulder (David Duchovny). It's the duo's first meeting in six years, as the feature film picks up in real time since the TV series' end, and Scully's found his remote cabin in the woods where he's sitting at his cluttered bachelor's desk.
"There's a lot of in-jokes here. There's a lot of crew members names, if you were to study them carefully, in the headlines on the wall," reveals co-screenwriter Frank Spotnitz of the carefully arranged clutter, which includes Mulder's infamous poster with flying saucers proclaiming, "You Will Believe."
In some respects, it's hard to believe that a second feature film is even being made. Duchovny and Carter became embroiled in separate lawsuits over syndication revenue, Duchovny left the series before it wrapped to pursue other ventures and there were rumors that during production, the two stars shared nothing more than a chilly professional relationship.
"It's probably different now in that we're both not exhausted all the time. We're kind of excited to come and do what we think is the heart of the movie, which we think is the relationship," Duchovny says.
Adds Anderson, "I've always made it clear—no matter what's been rumored at various times in the press—that were we to come together or were somebody to get it together in order to do a film, I would be happy and willing and hopefully able to participate. I was always on board. No matter what else I was deciding to do in my life at the time. I found a place again of appropriate perspective and great appreciation and gratitude for just being allowed and invited to such an extraordinary experience."
Of course, it's what that experience entails that brings us back to the biggest mystery of all surrounding this sequel: What's "X-Files: I Want to Believe" all about? | |  LOOKING FOR ANSWERS
Since the debut of the hit TV show, the term "X-Files" has become synonymous with mystery and the dogged pursuit of the unknown.
Over the course of its nine-year run (1993-2002), "The X-Files"—about diametrically opposed FBI agents Mulder and Scully investigating paranormal cases—gained a fervid cult following with its intricate mythology and conspiracy theories. It generated two short-lived TV spinoffs and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, including the $189 million gross raked in by the 1998 "X-Files: Fight the Future" feature film. But six years have passed since the end of the TV series and the upcoming July 25 release of the movie sequel, "X-Files: I Want to Believe," so the real mystery becomes, "Why now?"
"One of the big reasons we're doing this is because the fans simply wanted it," says Carter, the TV series creator and director/co-writer of the movie sequel.
"People got billboards and ads and there was a huge vibe out there. You could feel people out there, in the chat rooms on the Internet."
And it should come as no surprise that that "vibe" surrounding the movie would extend to plot details, which have come in short, practically non-existent supply up to this point.
An early draft of a leaked script reportedly didn't include Mulder and Scully in the opening act, causing fans to speculate on the status of the franchise without its two main stars. Later during production, photos of director/co-writer Chris Carter handling a werewolf mask, and actors Duchovny and Anderson locked in a romantic embrace, only added more fuel to the fire. Even the IMDB.com plot synopsis draws its description from the scheduled novelization of the movie (more on that later).
It's enough to drive even the most determined paranormal investigator into retirement—which ironically, is exactly where the movie picks up. | |  THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE?
Carter and Spotnitz remain mute on the subject of any plot details, coyly dancing around the subject with dodgy sound bites such as, "I think you'll see the story we're telling is relevant to the time and place that we're at now," (Carter) and, "The fundamental idea is different from anything we did on the show. But what we also wanted was an X-File that, however fractured, could serve as a mirror for Mulder and Scully, a case that could expose things about them. That's what this story is about," (Spotnitz).
However, even Hollywood heavyweights with a penchant for secrecy can't fight the Tinseltown marketing machine. To wit, the novelization by Max Allan Collins of the feature film, from which this plot description is taken:
"When a group of women are abducted in the wintry hills of rural Virginia, the only clues to their disappearance are the grotesque human remains that begin to turn up in snow banks along the highway. With officials desperate for any lead, a disgraced priest's questionable visions send local police on a wild goose chase and straight to a bizarre secret medical experiment that may or may not be connected to the women's' disappearance. It's a case right out of 'The X-Files.' But the FBI closed down its investigations into the paranormal years ago. And the best team for the job is ex-agents Fox Mulder and Dr. Dana Scully, who have no desire to revisit their dark past. Still, the truth of these horrific crimes is out there somewhere...and it will take Mulder and Scully to find it!"
Of course, given the show's knack for conspiracy theories, this description could be a plant to throw fans off the real screen story.
Cue the spooky theme music now…
WE WANT TO BELIEVE
Whatever happens in the movie, which also stars Amanda Peet, Xzibit, Mitch Pileggi and Billy Connolly, Carter and Spotnitz have maintained all along that this feature film installment will be more akin to the one-and-done thriller episodes as opposed to the continuity-heavy mythology chapters. That philosophy could wind up paying big dividends, not just with bringing back hardcore fans, but in ensnaring casual viewers and newcomers to opening weekend as well.
"I think this movie is actually much more accessible to the non-fan in terms of story, plot, everything else. I think it's scary. It's pretty dark. I mean, there's some nasty stuff going on," Duchovny proclaims. "We don't just want to cash in on the past. We all want to do something new. We all want to make it good. We don't want to throw a piece of crap out there and have people go look at it just for nostalgia's sake."
Echoes Carter, "I hope it's a timeless thing. I hope it's not a '90s thing."
And that's something all the fans want to believe. | | | | | | |
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