Sep 4, 2008 08:40 AM
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Tue Feb 9
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What do X-Files: I Want To Believe and newly-announced Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin have in common? Well, if you believe the RNC and X-Files producer Frank Spotnitz, both have been victims of press reporting that would rather focus on the negative instead of the positive. But what is the positive takeaway that we've been robbed of? How about the story continuing forever?
Sure, you might think that flopping at the box office (well, relatively; it was a very cheap movie to make by summer blockbuster standards, after all) and being slated by critics might have made that a slightly more closed question, but that's because you weren't paying attention to the people that matter: the fans. Spotnitz explains:
I do think the fans did love it, although the popular media didn't pick up on that.
That damn popular media, paying more attention to all of the overwhelming majority of Americans who decided not to go and see the movie. Damn their anti-conspiracy-exposing agenda. So what news were we robbed of, according to Spotnitz?
My impression is that it was overwhelmingly well received by fans. But there is no denying that the box office was very disappointing. We've done dramatically better overseas. We'll probably hit $70 million worldwide, which is a profit.
A profit indeed... and one that just might fuel Spotnitz's vision of an eternal franchise:
I've always felt that "The X-Files" could go on forever. The believer/skeptic dynamic was such a great storytelling vehicle, and the fact that we could use anything we don't understand makes the possibilities limitless. There are so many X-Files that we could keep telling these for years if there is an audience.
You know what I want to believe? That that's not going to happen. Wasn't a nine-season and two movie run enough?
Reflections: Frank Spotnitz [Comic Book Resources]
Send an email to Graeme McMillan, the author of this post, at graeme@io9.com.
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