So, here’s an exceptionally weird story for you: it would appear our pals over at Bloody Disgusting have stumbled upon something of a bombshell announcement from The X-Files creator Chris Carter, tucked into a relatively brief interview between that former showrunner and the CBC’s Gloria Macarenko.
In the interview, which is largely comprised of softball questions and commentary on what it was like to shoot The X-Files in Vancouver three decades ago, the following exchange occurs:
Macarenko: “How would you make it now, in the current day? How would The X-Files be different?”
Carter: “Oh, gosh. We’re so steeped in conspiracy theories now, y’know? The X-Files dealt with a central conspiracy, but now the world is so full of conspiracies that I think it’d be a different show. Actually, I just spoke to a young man – Ryan Coogler – who is going to remount The X-Files with a diverse cast, so he’s got his work cut out for him, because we covered so much territory.”
Incredibly, the conversation doesn’t come to a screeching halt once Carter says this. The host glances at it (“Oh, that’s wonderful!” or something to that effect), and then it’s on to the next question. On the one hand, this is very exciting if accurate! On the other hand, we’re utterly baffled as to why a story this big would get casually announced during such a low-key interview.
Of course we want to believe this, and of course we don’t think Carter’s just making things up for the sake of doing so! So what’s going on here? It’s possible that Carter and Coogler simply discussed the possibility of relaunching a different version of the show with a new cast (for instance, maybe Coogler sought out Carter’s blessing before sinking any real development time into the idea). It’s also possible that Carter accidentally revealed something which was intended to be kept secret for the time being. We really won’t know until we get further confirmation from Carter, Coogler, or Disney – the studio that’s currently holding the rights to the X-Files franchise.
No matter how you cut it, it’s an interesting development, and one we’ll certainly be keeping our eyes on going forward. Stay tuned for further updates as they roll in, folks – we are very eager to learn more about this one.
