May-17-2000
Associated Press
Duchovny Signs ‘X-Files’ Deal
Lynn Elber
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Fox Mulder will continue his quest for the truth and alien invaders next season on “The X-Files.”
David Duchovny, who was wrangling over his contract and a lawsuit he filed in connection with the show, has agreed to return for an eighth year.
“I am pleased we were able to come to an agreement that enables me to remain part of “The X-Files,’ ” Duchovny said in a statement Wednesday. “Now that all the business issues have been settled, I’m looking forward to going back to work.”
Gillian Anderson, his co-star in the Fox series about FBI agents on the trail of supernatural forces and space aliens, already was under contract. Chris Carter, the series’ creator and executive producer, struck a deal for another year earlier this week.
The deal will bring Duchovny more than $20 million, which includes a lawsuit settlement and $350,000 to $400,000 per episode, according to sources cited by Daily Variety.
The actor’s decision, which came the day before Fox Broadcasting Co. was to announce its fall schedule in New York, was greeted with enthusiasm by Carter. He had said previously he could produce the show without Duchovny but preferred not to.
“I’m very pleased and I think with the season finale cliffhanger it creates great possibilities to take the show in new directions,” Carter said Wednesday.
The show wraps up this season on Sunday.
Duchovny, who had been seeking a less grueling work schedule as well as more money, will not be in every episode for the 2000-01 season, Carter said.
He said it would be “jumping the gun” to speculate whether the show, a mainstay of Fox’s schedule, will be back for a ninth year.
The negotiations with Duchovny had been complicated by his lawsuit against 20th Century Fox Film Corp. The suit claimed Fox gave its own stations sweetheart deals on “The X-Files” reruns when the program should have been sold to the highest bidder.
The result, the suit alleged, was that Duchovny was underpaid on the series’ profits. The actor had said he wouldn’t return to the show unless the suit was settled.
A spokesman for the actor said he could not expand on Duchovny’s statement.
Carter said he expected the legal dispute to be a non-issue when filming resumes.
“I work with real professionals and the work has always come before any personal feelings,” he said.
The conspiracy-minded series, which made stars and magazine cover favorites out of Duchovny and Anderson, opens with the insistence that “The truth is out there.” The show was the basis of a successful “X-Files” movie that Fox and Carter expect to be part of a continuing franchise.
Tags: chris carter, david duchovny, x-files