FoxThe X-Files remain open at Fox, but the question remains when we might get to spend some time with Agents Mulder and Scully again to clear up that apocalyptic cliffhanger.
While they didn't have a concrete timeline to offer reporters on hand during their executive session during the Television Critics Association summer press tour, Fox Television Group Chairman and CEO Dana Walden and Fox Broadcasting Company Entertainment President David Madden reassured that talks with stars Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny, as well as creator Chris Carter, remain ongoing.
"We would obviously love to do another season. There are significant talks going on," Madden admitted. "Schedules are hard. We're working hard to get this done and we'd love to get another season out now."
What might a new batch of episodes of The X-Files look like? That remains to be seen, but Walden shared following the panel that she hopes to expand on the revival season's six-episode order. "We would've liked to have done more in the first place. It was really the limitations of David and Gillian and Chris' schedules," she continued. "It was just trying to coordinate a time where they all could carve out a time when they could all be in Vancouver. And I think now we have longer to plan, we're in conversations that potentially we can do more. I don't imagine it being a full season of The X-Files, but I would be really happy if we could get eight to ten episodes."
While the revival season was a ratings juggernaut, its attempts at extending the series' central mythology while delivering some of the great stand-alone monster-of-the-week episodes that the series was so beloved for all in just six hours left some fans feeling a bit underwhelmed. Walden acknowledged the mixed reviews, while admitting the hope is that a new batch of episodes would be able to sidestep the pitfalls of those six.
"It was still a lot of time to cover in these six episodes, so they had the challenge of filling in the mythology and explaining where the characters were and how they got to where they are at the start of the six episodes," she said. "I think going forward, there won't be the same obligation to reset the series."
At the end of the day, there's only one thing that matters: "The fans wants more episodes," Walden said. When they'll get them, though? We'll all just have to stay tuned for that.