"The X-Files" creator Chris Carter gave Ryan Coogler his blessing for the planned reboot of the show, but adds, "I'm not supposed to be talking about it."
I’m all for it but Chris hit the nail with his statement and I think it’s hard to beat or repeat:
People ask the reasons for its success and the answer I give to them is David and Gillian. If it weren’t for that relationship, and the actors who portrayed Mulder and Scully, the show would not have been the hit it became.
Yep, I mean there’s a reason you never see anyone chomping at the bit to obsessively discuss the Doggett/Reyes era. Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish are both fine actors but they weren’t Mulder and Scully.
Fox and Chris Carter tried to see if they could pull a “Law & Order/ER” style rotating cast without losing their audience and it just didn’t work. Why? Because it turns out the show wasn’t actually bigger than Mulder and Scully.
I mean, I still think there is a scope for spin offs. X Files but based in Japan or India or somewhere else other than America. It would be interesting to see how cultural, governmental and societal differences influence Sci-fi conspiracy stories. If you can’t replicate David and Gillians chemistry then try a different spin altogether.
You could have an American agent sent to a foreign country to work on the X Files with a local agent. They’d act as an audience surrogate allowing for some convenient explanations as to how things work in a society the audience may be unfamiliar with. The American agent could have been shipped abroad as a demotion and is very disinterested and sceptical of the local agents beliefs, essentially acting as the Scully to the local ‘Mulder’. Leaning into the foreigner abroad aspect could further help to enhance the otherworldly nature of the series as the agent grapples with the paranormal alongside unfamiliar beliefs, cultures and governmental/departmental bureaucracy.
I’m all for it but Chris hit the nail with his statement and I think it’s hard to beat or repeat:
Yep, I mean there’s a reason you never see anyone chomping at the bit to obsessively discuss the Doggett/Reyes era. Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish are both fine actors but they weren’t Mulder and Scully.
Fox and Chris Carter tried to see if they could pull a “Law & Order/ER” style rotating cast without losing their audience and it just didn’t work. Why? Because it turns out the show wasn’t actually bigger than Mulder and Scully.
I mean, I still think there is a scope for spin offs. X Files but based in Japan or India or somewhere else other than America. It would be interesting to see how cultural, governmental and societal differences influence Sci-fi conspiracy stories. If you can’t replicate David and Gillians chemistry then try a different spin altogether.
Interesting take. That could also pull it out of the classic conspiracy theory territory canon too. That could be interesting culturally.
You could have an American agent sent to a foreign country to work on the X Files with a local agent. They’d act as an audience surrogate allowing for some convenient explanations as to how things work in a society the audience may be unfamiliar with. The American agent could have been shipped abroad as a demotion and is very disinterested and sceptical of the local agents beliefs, essentially acting as the Scully to the local ‘Mulder’. Leaning into the foreigner abroad aspect could further help to enhance the otherworldly nature of the series as the agent grapples with the paranormal alongside unfamiliar beliefs, cultures and governmental/departmental bureaucracy.