io9
We just got treated to a very brief clip from the new X-Files movie trailer, featuring a group of mysterious FBI types marching across the icy antarctic snows, with Billy Connolly as a mad grayhair in the lead, crying out, "We've found it!" Cut to lightning fast clips of a body being dragged over ice, Scully looking hotter than hell, Mulder looking not so bad himself, and lots of zoomy blurred stuff. No shots of Xzibit, though Chris Carter did confirm for the millionth time that he would be in the film along with Amanda Peet as a federal agent. No word about that giant werewolf we keep hearing about. But director Chris Carter, writer Frank Spotnitz, and stars Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny were in attendance. Here's what they had to say about X-Files and 9/11, as well as what it's been like to return to the story after all these years.
Carter kicked things off by saying the film was worth the wait,"Because it will scare the pants off you. You'll see Mulder and Scully again in a whole new way."
Suddenly a bunch of adolescent girls behind us started yelling at Duchovny, "Can you give us your pants?" Sadly he did not oblige. 
A fan asked asked about the X-Files and 9/11 controversy. (For those who don't know, the pilot episode of X-Files spinoff The Lone Gunmen is about a plot to crash a hijacked plane into the WTC.) Carter passed the question to Spotnitz, who said:
We were really upset, and worried that somehow we had inspired the plot. But we were relieved to discover that the plot pre-dated The Lone Gunmen, and that 9/11 had nothing to do with our work. And then once we realized that, my next thought was how the government hadn't known about this plot. There have been a lot of conspiracy theories about the connection between 9/11 and The Lone Gunman, but none of them are true.Explaining the end of the X-Files series, Carter said:
There was lots more we could have done but we ended at the right time. Things had changed after 9/11... and now the mood is right once more.He added that the movie is standalone, though it incorporates elements of the mythology (including the 2012 apocalypse date).
Anderson said it was hard to get back into character. "I had a really bad couple of days. I thought it would be really easy to step into it and I actually sucked for 48 hours."
Carter said, "I've always thought the series was a search for God."
Anderson said:
One of my favorite episodes is Bad Blood. Probably because it's one of the only episodes I remember. It was each of our ideas of what took place in an event, and we both got to play the other person's perception of ourselves. So I was moody and bitchy and David was going on and on and on [with the talking].Carter's favorite episodes are "Postmodern Prometheus" and "Beyond the Sea."
Comments
Exhibit? Do you mean Xzibit? C'mon. We may be geeks, but we know what's what!
I'm actually excited about this. The episodes hold up pretty well I suppose.
And all this time I thought it was the ever increasing suckitude of the show that killed the X-Files.
Oh god I can't wait for this movie...
When last we left, Mulder had been given the death penalty by the alien-compromised US Military and, following an improbable jail break, was on the lam with Scully while the Conspiracy leveled their considerable firepower at the Smoking Man and pulled the trigger. Now fugitives, the former Agents hightailed it to Mexico.
So now, what? They're back? All's forgiven? How are they back to sleuthing without the US Military Gitmoing their law-breaking asses?
@LumpyDumplings: well, the Lone Gunmen died before the series ended, and from the article it appears they aren't dead in the film. that means either A: the movie begins with a message from Chris Carter telling us that the last few seasons didn't happen, B. some sort of pseudoscientific explanation by Mulder telling us why the events of the last few seasons were some sort of illusion (maybe something about that episode with the giant underground mushroom), C. the events of the film take place before the series finale, or D. the scene the article describes is a flashback.
@SeanOHara:
If that was all it took to cancel shows, don't you think ER would have died a long time ago?
@Belabras: and in that alternate universe, there'd be about 3 shows on TV.
@c0dek:
On the bright side, I'd still get to watch Farscape every week.
"Carter said, "I've always thought the series was a search for God.""
That became all too obvious in season 5. I always thought it was about the paranormal myself. Hmmm.
@dead_red_eyes: Well the search for life AFTER death, the existence of a force behind the creation of the universe, the journey of soul energy, and God taking an interest in the lives of individuals seems pretty PARAnormal.
Excellent write-up. One correction, however. In the teaser, the character leading the FBI search team is indeed Billy Connolly, and NOT Ringo Byers of The Lone Gunmen as was reported. See: [76.162.181.89]
Idjit! That *was* Billy Connelly in front of the FBI agents, not Langly! TLG are definitely dead! It's idiots like you don't fact-check (look anywhere and you'll see everyone knows it's Billy Connelly -- you could have asked the adolescent girls behind you) that create the bad kind of misinformation and ruin faith that the sequel will be anything but amazing.
I might watch about anything with Gillian Anderson. And that Duchovny fellow is a handsome man.
@smokyburnout: That's always been an article of faith for me. The ninth season was some sort of drug-induced hallucination in Cancer Man's mind.
trailer:
+ Watch video
that room was way too echoey. I ended up trying to guess what drug chris carter was on.
9/11 killed the X files?
No, two plus shitty seasons killed the show, as SeanOHara pointed out.
I think this will take place in some earlier time in the shows timeline.
Hopefully, the pre-sucking time.
@Plague: Yeah srsly. But after seeing the actors together and the clip from the film, I would give it another chance.
The other thing that was notable about this panel was how many fans there were who were young, teens and early twenties, who had either watched the show when they were tots or in reruns. So from studio Fox's point of view, there's a giant group in their most-wanted demographic that's ready to lap up whatever X-Files they can dish out.
@robotstephe: Dude I was liveblogging at a con, sitting in a hallway with four kids playing lightsabers over my head. Cut me some slack!
@LumpyDumplings: They've said that Doggett and Reyes would be in the third movie, if it gets made. So, I don't think they're retconning anything. And frankly, I liked the last two seasons, though maybe biased since those were the seasons that introduced me to the show. I love Doggett.
Also, the Lone Gunmen died? Shit. :(
I don't care how the Lone Gunmen come back; it just wouldn't be the same without them!!
I can't wait for the new movie!!!!
Wait a second... Old show that ran well for a while then started to stall out, rust and smell funny? Starring Xzibit?
I don't think this movie is going to have a werewolf in it. It's going to have chrome spinners, hydraulics and a flat-screen tv in the back seat.
From what I can tell, it is not Ringo, but Billy Connolly. :(
I figured since X files ripped off so much of the ambiance of Twin Peaks that there would be that dream world/real world conflict, and instead of being the transvestite DEA agent, Mulder would be a man with a different secret in the real world dimension of x Files. Molly Shannon would be Scully's alter ego instead of the adoption agency lady......hmmmm. whatever.
I always figured that Fox studios was pushing Ex Files and Millenium as ways to slam the Clinton administration as a form of propaganda warfare to feed the Birchers who form the base of the GOP. Once the Shrub was placed in office they couldn't continue to claim the government was evil and still get cookies for Rupert Murdoch.
Connolly was the guy on the ice, not one of the Lone Gunmen.
From SciFi Wire:
Anderson plays Scully opposite co-star David Duchovny's Fox Mulder in the upcoming second film, which is currently shooting in Vancouver, Canada, under director and series creator Chris Carter. The story picks up with the characters as if the years since the show ended had really passed.
[www.scifi.com]
@Annalee Newitz: Grrr... Annalee, if I weren't such a fan... Ok. You get one bye. ONE. Keep up the good work.
And should it ever come up - it's Ice-T, not Iced Tea.
@Sockatume: Right you are -- I just rewatched it on YouTube. I caught such a brief glimpse of it and I wanted it to be Ringo so badly . . . meh. Anyway, fixed the post.
Two of the Lone Gunmen appeared at Dragon Con last year, and they said that they, unfortunately, weren't invited to be in this movie but would certainly jump at the chance should it come up for the next one (I'm just excited we're getting a 2ND movie!). They also talked a bit about 9-11 and how people from their show reacted when the events happened, which was really interesting to hear about, especially since I had just watched the episode on the flight out to Atlanta.
From what Chris Carter said in the panel on Saturday -- or, rather, what he didn't say -- it does sound like some old favorites, like Skinner and possibly Krycek are in XF2. I do like how they're trying to keep things a secret and a surprise to the old-time fans.
i usually feel uncomfortable at audience q&a sessions, but the x-files panel was surprisingly not lame! i particularly enjoyed the krycek question (and david's subsequent "hand motion"), the running "bad blood" gag, and the david & gillian banter. the murmurs of approval at mentions of "home" and "glen morgan and james wong" made me realize how much i missed the whole x-files universe.
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