In a limited Los Angeles exhibition entirely dedicated to his artwork, Chris Carter mentioned the possibility of a The X-Files reboot that is rumoured to be at early planning stages.
Will you be part of “The X-Files” reboot? “I wouldn’t. Only as a cheerleader. They don’t need my blessing. 20th Century Fox and Disney owns the show. They are free to do with it what they believe. I’m honored that they came to me and asked me, not for my permission, but my blessing.”
You’ve spoken to Coogler about it? “I’m not supposed to be talking about it, according to Disney. But I’ll tell you, yes. I’ve had a conversation with him. Yes, he likes to go with a diverse cast. And he’s got some good ideas.”
But you’re not interested in doing another revival of “The X-Files” yourself? “Oh, if David [Duchovny] and Gillian [Anderson] wanted to do it again. Yeah, probably, then I would be inspired.”
What this tells me is that the ‘reboot’ would be an in-universe continuation of the story with a new cast and new characters, not a recast of the Mulder and Scully characters. This would leave space for DD & GA to make guest appearances in that spin-off, and leave Carter the possibility to work again with DD & GA in a third revival. If any of that ever happens. Interesting that presently Carter only gives his “blessing”, not permission — it used to be that he seemed to be in control of anything with the TXF name on it. Still no official word from Disney on this, so all of this is in the very early stages, and might not materialize at all.
Also, he’s also working in script writing: “I’m working on two different things that I’m very excited about, so maybe some projects will appear. I’m working on one with my wife, which is really exciting. We only worked together once. We haven’t worked together since the mid-1980s when we wrote and produced a Disney Sunday movie together.” I hope this works out!
What else? There is a small TXF-related exhibit, with in particular the original casting sheets for Mulder and Scully dated February 22 and March 5 1993, where one can see who else auditioned for the roles! (Claudia Christian! After Babylon 5 “The Gathering” and before season 1!) Next to DD, Carter has written “Yes” and next to GA, “Test”.
And in the video promoting the event, there is a board with cards similar to the ones used to break down the story for an episode, but it’s none of the Ten Thirteen shows produced until now (including The After). There are characters called Althea, Cassandra, Rafe, Annette, Shin… Could this be the project he’s working on with his wife? A cancelled project?
Of course, TXF is what everybody wants to hear about. But the main attraction here is Carter’s art. He did a lot of pottery in the past, but the pieces here are of a different kind. There’s a lot of mixed media large-format pieces with prominent text. I really like the typewriter piece (which incorporates visual elements from TXF). The rest is more abstract. He mentions: “I can tell you [my] two main influences. And when you look at some of the pieces, you’ll see the connection. Ed Rucha and Jenny Holzer. And I have to say to some extent, Barbara Kruger.” If you look up these artists, you can definitely tell.
Exhibition at Legacy West Media, runs Feb 24 to Mar 10
Interviews quoted above: The Wrap / Gold Derby + YouTube / LAist
+ Fangoria / Awards Watch
