SerpApi.Org
Ryan Coogler's "The X-Files" reboot remains alive, but whether it will become a Hulu series is still undecided. A completed pilot is awaiting a decision from Disney, while a new report claims Coogler has proposed turning the unusually ambitious episode into a theatrical movie.
Hulu has ordered only the pilot, not a full season, and no premiere date has been announced. According to a July 17 report from World of Reel, the pilot was filmed on 65mm and runs approximately two hours. The outlet also reported that Coogler asked Disney to consider releasing it as a feature film.
Disney and Hulu have not publicly confirmed the reported format, runtime or theatrical proposal. World of Reel cited behind-the-scenes information rather than an official studio announcement, meaning the possibility of an "X-Files" movie should be treated as an unconfirmed development rather than a finalized release plan.
The project was initially developed as a Hulu pilot, with the "Sinners" and "Black Panther" filmmaker writing, directing and executive producing through his Proximity Media company. Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel lead the cast as two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents who develop an unlikely partnership after being assigned to a long-shuttered division devoted to unexplained phenomena.
The characters are original creations rather than new versions of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. The pilot's guest cast also includes Steve Buscemi, Ben Foster, Amy Madigan, Devery Jacobs, Tantoo Cardinal, Lochlyn Munro, Joel D. Montgrand and Sofia Grace Clifton.
Filming began in Vancouver in May and has since concluded. Patel confirmed the limited status of the project in an interview published by Collider on July 1.
"It's just a pilot, for now," Patel said. "I'm keeping my fingers crossed."
That distinction is important. Although the pilot has been completed, Hulu has not formally ordered a series. The project could therefore become a full television show, be reworked or released as a feature, or ultimately remain an unaired pilot.
Jennifer Yale is attached as showrunner if the reboot moves forward as a series. Original "X-Files" creator Chris Carter is involved as a non-writing executive producer, while Coogler's longtime collaborators Sev Ohanian and Zinzi Coogler are also executive producing.
Neither David Duchovny nor Gillian Anderson has been confirmed to return. Both original stars have spoken separately with Coogler, however, and Anderson revealed that she had read the pilot script.
"The pilot script is really good," Anderson said during an Awesome Con appearance. "Have an open mind and give it a chance, because it's gonna be f---ing cool."
Duchovny previously said he had not read the script but wished the new team well, describing Carter's original believer-and-skeptic premise as "endlessly generative."
For now, the most accurate answer is that Coogler's "X-Files" project is still happening at the pilot stage. What remains uncertain is whether audiences will eventually see it as the beginning of a Hulu series, a theatrical movie or something else entirely. Disney has not announced when it will make that decision.
