Producer Frank Spotnitz Wants Third X-Files Movie to 'Finish' the Series

For such a long-running series, the story of The X-Files never really finished. The science fiction series ran for nine seasons, from 1993 to 2002, on FOX, but ended with a bit of a cliffhanger, with an alien invasion still imminent and Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) on the lam. A film, X-Files: Fight the Future, had been released during the show's run, and in 2008, The X-Files: I Want to Believe was released. But instead of being a film that people were wanting to see -- the continuation of the alien invasion storyline -- the film provided a largely standalone storyline, the sort of monster-of-the-week format for which the series had originally become famous. The film wasn't a flop at the box office, but it underperformed, leaving a sequel in doubt.

Now, X-Files writer/producer Frank Spotnitz thinks the time has come for X-Files 3. Speaking to Collider, Spotnitz confirmed that he "absolutely" thought it was time for a new X-Files film."I think everybody should write to 20th Century Fox. I've been saying for years now that I feel it's a cultural crime that they have not finished the series," he said. "The second movie did not perform the way anybody wanted it to at the box office. I'm proud of that movie, but it makes sense to me that it didn't. It was released at the height of summer, and it was a story-of-the-week. That's not what the movie-going audience wanted. The movie-going audience wanted the aliens. That's what they know The X-Files for. And that story is not done, and it should be finished."

But with the aliens scheduled to invade on December 22, 2012 (according to the mythology of the series), time is running out to make a timely sequel. Spotnitz is aware of this: "I don't think it's too late, but I think it's gonna be, pretty soon. I'm still agitating with everyone I can grab to say, 'Let's make this movie while we still can!'"

Check out Spotnitz's full interview with Collider here.

What do you think? Is it too late for a third X-Files movie, or do you think there's room for one more?