Source: XFilesNews.com
After The X-Files: I Want to Believe performed poorly at the box office domestically (much of that has to do with the poor timing of its release – one week after The Dark Knight), fans have been left to wonder whether or not the franchise has any hope for even one more future film. Well, X-Philes now have a chance to help make this third film a reality.
For the week of July 20-26, a campaign is being held to help a third X-Files film be brought to life. The XF3 Army via XFilesNews.com has posted a challenge to all X-Files fans to purchase a single-disc copy of The X-Files: I Want to Believe on DVD (don’t worry, if you already own a copy, or perhaps didn’t necessarily care for the film, you can donate it to charity). All you have to do is order it through Amazon.com between July 20-26 (if you don’t want to keep it, just select the gift option through Amazon.com when you order it and have it shipped to the address given here). Then, just send a pic/scan of the receipt to xfn1013@gmail.com. It will only take a few minutes of your time and will go towards more than one worthy cause!
After the deadline, they will send the receipts as part of a package to 20th Century Fox. The idea is to make it onto the sales charts again to show Fox that there is an audience and we want our third X-Files movie A.S.A.P.! Only 1,000 DVDs need to be sold to make it onto the Sales charts, so buy your copy anywhere between July 20-26!
One ray of hope is that the film did in fact make a profit after accounting for overseas movie ticket sales, and 20th Century Fox Chairman Tom Rothman has stated in the past that a third film is really up to Chris Carter, David Duchovony and Gillian Anderson if they want to do it.
Both X-Files creator Chris Carter and producer/screen writer Frank Spotnitz have said that if they do a third X-Files movie, it would go back to the mythology and deal with alien colonization on December 21, 2012, which is a date that has been long since woven into the X-Files story (long before Roland Emmerich’s 2012 film was even thought of).
Personally, I want to see this movie happen. If given a proper budget, we really could see The X-Files make an incredible comeback, at least on a storytelling level if not big box office results. Remember, the first X-Files movie (Fight the Future), which fans embraced much more than I Want to Believe, only brought in approximately $84 Million in its entire run domestically which is still very low (Transformers 2 made over $200 million in its first week).
I think that even though I Want to Believe wasn’t as good as Fight the Future, IWTB would have done much better at the box office had it been released as a non-summer movie, perhaps during October. It had much more of a scary/moody feel to it, which people are more likely to want to go see in October when Halloween approaches. I think the third X-Files movie should have a bigger budget and feel more like the first movie. Like IWTB, it might benefit from being released in late summer or in the fall. All of the big summer movies will have died down by then, which should give The X-Files 3 more time in the spotlight, especially if it is a good movie.
The IWTB Week Operation is just one phase of the “Believe in the Future” campaign (phase 2 to be exact) that XF3 Army is doing to get The X-Files 3 off the ground. Click here to find out more about the XF3 Army’s entire campaign for the film, or here for the IWTB Week Operation phase specifically. (Don’t forget, purchase your copy of The X-Files: IWTB on DVD during the week of July 20-26!)
On a side note, everyone thought Star Trek was dead back in 2002, but the release of the new Trek proved differently! The same could happen for The X-Files. Forget what you didn’t like about the TV show. Forget what you didn’t like about I Want to Believe. Let’s “fight the future” and help bring The X-Files back to its glory days.
Update: XFilesNews.com recently linked to this article! Click here.
Lee Sherman said
July 12 2009
Thanks for making me aware of this!
Richard Geer said
July 13 2009
Hey thanks for the info. I really would like to see this done and if it means buying a DVD A small price to pay I would think. These fan based ideas have a checkered success rate, but for a cult series like The X Files I think it could work! After all Star Trek still lives fro this exact same reason. I only hope that Carter, Duchovny, Anderson, et al, will want to do this if the demand is there.
Dan Geer said
July 13 2009
They have said that they want to do a third one. It is just a matter of getting a script and 20th Century Fox to give the go ahead on it.
The fanbase is there. And I believe it is the kind of material that can bring in new fans as well if the right kind of movie is made and the marketing is done right this time. I know there is a lot to the mythos of The X-Files, but not all of it has to be covered in the movie. Just the main plot points could be re-introduced, enough to move the plot along for non-fans but enough to please the fans (like the first movie). Perhaps other FBI agents could be being dealing with what’s going on and they end up recruiting Mulder and Scully (and maybe even Doggett and Reyes) for their expert advice and they explain to them what is going on as they investigate, which in turn explains it to the audience.
If the writers are creative enough, they could make this not only an X-Phile’s dream movie, but also one that works well enough for non-fans of the show to enjoy. Hype it up properly and deliver a well-written movie, people will go see it. That’s why the new Trek did so well. It appealed to the fans, but also delivered a movie accessible to non-fans. Now, Trek as twice as many fans!
Or there can be a nice prologue…
Victoria said
July 15 2009
Thank you so much for publicizing this ! I couldn’t agree more – the bad timing for XF2’s release was sooo frustrating… it was a great movie, and we need the 3rd movie!