The truth is back in circulation—this time with a pilot order. Ryan Coogler (“Sinners,” “Black Panther”) has officially moved his long-discussed “The X-Files” revival forward at Hulu, which has greenlit a pilot for the reboot and set Danielle Deadwyler (“Till,” “The Piano Lesson”) to star as one of its leads. Multiple outlets reporting the news describe the project as a pilot order, not a straight-to-series commitment.
Coogler is set to write and direct the pilot, and the project is described as an Onyx Collective production. The official setup keeps the franchise architecture intact while resetting the faces: “Two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents form an unlikely bond when they are assigned to a long-shuttered division devoted to cases involving unexplained phenomena.”
Deadwyler is playing one of the two central agents, with the other lead role still uncast. TVLine also reports Jennifer Yale (“Outlander”) is serving as showrunner on the pilot.
This projecthas been in the works for a while, but this is the first concrete production step that makes the reboot feel more than just franchise chatter. Coogler has been publicly open about how personal the property is to him, tying it to his relationship with his mother and talking about wanting to deliver something that still hits the original show’s fear center.
Earlier this year, Coogler said the team wanted episodes that could be “really f—ing scary,” (via EW.com) and he also made clear he was aiming to satisfy longtime fans while opening the door to new viewers. He additionally said he’d spoken with Gillian Anderson and called her “incredible,” while signaling hope that something could come together there.
That part stillremains unresolved. There’s no indication yet that Anderson or David Duchovny are attached to the pilot, but Anderson has repeatedly left the door open in public, including a “call me” invitation to Coogler and a separate “I’m not saying no” comment when asked about returning.
Original creator Chris Carter is also still part of the picture in an executive producer capacity, even if Coogler’s version is clearly designed as a new take rather than a nostalgia replay. Carter previously gave Coogler his blessing to move forward.
The original “The X-Files” ran on Fox from 1993 to 2002, later returned for shorter revival seasons in 2016 and 2018, and spawned two feature films—so the reboot arrives with plenty of mythology to raid and even more baggage to avoid. No premiere date or production start date has been announced.
