'The X-Files' release date: Reboot confirmed by Fox for six-episode limited series
All the wishes and petitions of loyal Mulder and Scully fans have finally paid off. FOX officially announced early this week that "The X-Files" will be back on the small screen for a limited engagement.
Talks about the return of "The X-Files" have been going around for months, and the TV network finally confirmed that both Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny signed up to reprise their roles as the popular FBI Special Agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder, respectively, in the hit sci-fi horror fiction. They will be joined by the original creator Chris Carter in the limited six-episode run.
Carter recently talked about their return on TV, saying that fans of the show can "think of it as a 13-year commercial break."
Despite the big time gap, the series creator and executive producer believes that now is not a bad time for the show to make a comeback.
"The good news is the world has only gotten that much stranger, a perfect time to tell these six stories," Carter said.
The series premiered in September 1993, and it gradually gained popularity as the show progressed over the seasons. However, "The X-Files" failed to sustain its popularity during its ninth and final season that premiered in November 2001, and it ended somewhat dismally in May 2002.
Still, the show has enough die-hard fans to keep the franchise alive. It spawned a full-length feature film that was premiered in 1998, as well as a comics series that was published for years after the TV show had aired its final episode.
Fox Television Group executives Dana Walden and Gary Newman were also thrilled with the return of "The X-Files" on TV, and considered it as a reunion of some sort.
"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. Few shows on television have drawn such dedicated fans as The X-Files, and we're ecstatic to give them the next thrilling chapter of Mulder and Scully they've been waiting for," Walden and Newman collectively said.
More details about the return of "The X-Files" will be reported as the series development progresses.