TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX announces July 25, 2008 release for a NEW The X-Files motion picture. Long-anticipated by the franchise’s legions of fans, the film reunites stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson with series creator Chris Carter and executive producer Frank Spotnitz.

Twentieth Century Fox today announced a July 25, 2008 release for a new motion picture based on the phenomenally-popular, award-winning series THE X-FILES.  Long-anticipated but until now unconfirmed, the film reunites series stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson under the direction of series creator Chris Carter, who co-wrote the screenplay with Frank Spotnitz. 

In grand “X-Files” manner, the as yet untitled film’s storyline is being kept under wraps, known only to top studio brass and the film’s principals.  This much can be revealed:  The supernatural thriller is a stand-alone story in the tradition of some of the show’s most acclaimed and beloved episodes, and takes the always-complicated relationship between Fox Mulder (Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Anderson) in unexpected directions.  Mulder continues his unshakable quest for the truth, and Scully, the passionate, ferociously intelligent physician, remains inextricably tied to Mulder’s pursuits.

Fox production VP Steve Asbell shepherded the project for the studio.

Created and executive produced by Chris Carter, “The X-Files,” which premiered on FOX on September 10, 1993, chronicled the lives and adventures of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, two disparate FBI agents assigned to investigate unsolved cases within the Bureau – cases that often involved the paranormal, the supernatural, and the inexplicable.

“The X-Files” won numerous awards and honors, including a George Foster Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting, three Golden Globes for Best Dramatic Series, a Golden Satellite Award for Best Drama Series, Science Fiction and Fantasy Saturn Awards for Outstanding Television Series, and a Parents’ Choice Honor for Best Series.  In 1997, Gillian Anderson won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

“The X-Files” was as much of a phenomenon abroad as it was in the United States.  The show’s conspiratorial tone and blend of paranoia, horror and suspense made it the most popular television series in Canada, the highest-rated series on Britain’s BBC2, and one of the biggest sensations ever in Japanese television.

The show’s nine-season run came to an end in 2002.  In 1998, Twentieth Century Fox released the first feature film based on the series.  The film – produced and written by Carter and co-written by Spotnitz – became a worldwide success, taking in $187 million in theatrical box office.