Fox reopens X-Files

Agents Mulder and Scully are headed back to US broadcast TV after 13 years.

Fox has commissioned a six-part reprisal of The X-Files, which will go into production this summer ahead of a currently undefined debut date as an event series.

The original X-Files launched in 1993 and ran for nine seasons. It followed David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as an unorthodox pair of FBI investigators looking into unexplained cases that usually involve paranormal phenomena. They will reprise their roles for the new run.

Series creator Chris Carter will helm the project as executive producer, with 20^th Century Fox Television and Ten Thirteen Productions coproducing.

“I think of it as a 13-year commercial break,” said Carter. “The good news is the world has only gotten that much stranger, a perfect time to tell these six stories.”

“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,” said Dana Walden and Gary Newman, co-chairmen and CEOs of Fox Television Group.

“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.”

Fox found success rebooting thriller series 24 last season after a four-year hiatus.