Could A Director's Cut Of 'The X-Files: I Want To Believe' Be Coming To Disney+ In June?

TV & Film

May 21

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson on the poster for The X-Files: I Want to Believe — Image Source: Alpha Coders

In an unexpected real life twist, familiar faces seem to be returning to our TV screens. The writers over at Bloody Disgusting have revealed that a potential director’s cut of The X-Files: I Want to Believe could be coming to Disney+ this summer.

Based on the Fox series of the same name and directed and co-written by series creator Chris Carter, the film was intended to be a feature-length “monster-of-the-week” story. It also secured the return of series stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, respectively. After legal issues and multiple delays, the film was finally released on July 25th, 2008. While the film received praise for Duchovny and Anderson’s performances and its visuals, it received heavy criticism for its pacing and screenplay. Fan and audience reactions were also mixed due to its perceived like of excitement, as I Want to Believe generated unfavorable comparisons to more “action-packed” blockbusters released that summer such as Iron Man and The Dark Knight. Chris Carter has since attributed the mixed reviews to creative differences with then 20th Century Fox CEO Tom Rothman, who demanded him to scale down the more hardcore horror elements. Carter revealed in 2025 that he was actively working on a director’s cut of the film that would restore the heavier horror elements.

The X-Files has remained a fixture in pop culture since it debuted on Fox back in 1993. Since its debut, The X-Files has been hailed as one of the greatest and most influential television shows of the 1990’s and of all time. The series spawned an entire multi-media franchise which consists of feature films, comic books, video games, two spin-off shows (Millennium and The Lone Gunman), and an endless stream of merchandise, which has generated over $1 billion in revenue. The main series returned for two more seasons starting in 2016 and concluded in 2018. A reboot of the franchise is currently in development with Jennifer Yale acting as showrunner and Academy Award winner Ryan Coogler directing the pilot, which was ordered by Hulu in February. Danielle Deadwyler (The Piano Lesson) and Himesh Patel (Tenet) will play the two lead agents with the supporting cast of the pilot being rounded out by Academy Award winner Amy Madigan (Weapons), Emmy winner Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire), Ben Foster (Hell or High Water), and Devery Jacobs (Reservation Dogs).