The truth is still out there, and it looks like we’re finally getting closer to finding it. Ryan Coogler’s long-gestating X-Files reboot has officially received a pilot order at Hulu, with Danielle Deadwyler (The Piano Lesson) set to star as one of the leads. Jennifer Yale (The Copenhagen Test) has also come on board as showrunner for the highly anticipated revival of one of sci-fi television’s most iconic series.
Coogler is writing and directing the pilot himself, which centres on two highly decorated but very different FBI agents, one played by Deadwyler, who form an unlikely partnership when they’re assigned to a long-dormant division dealing with cases involving unexplained phenomena. Sound familiar? While the setup echoes the DNA of the original series, this is clearly being built as its own thing rather than a straightforward remake.
Yale will executive produce alongside original X-Files creator Chris Carter, Coogler, and Sev Ohanian and Zinzi Coogler of Proximity Media. Casting is being handled by Francine Maisler, who worked with Coogler on Sinners, suggesting the team assembling around this project is serious about getting it right.
The pilot order brings to a close a three-year development journey for the project, which sits under Coogler’s five-year exclusive television deal with Disney, the parent company of Hulu, 20th Television and Onyx Collective, who are producing. It’s worth noting that Hulu has shifted largely to a pilot development model in recent years, even for high-profile titles. It’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot/revival, directed by Chloé Zhao, is going through the same process.
Carter first let slip in a 2023 podcast interview that Coogler was planning to “remount The X-Files with a diverse cast,” noting at the time that the filmmaker had “his work cut out for him” given how much ground the original series covered. Coogler confirmed his involvement last April, and made his passion for the project very clear: “I’ve been excited about that for a long time, and I’m fired up to get back to it. Some of those episodes, if we do our jobs right, will be really f*cking scary. We’re gonna try to make something really great and really be something for the real X-Files fans, and maybe find some new ones.” It’s exactly the kind of quote that should reassure fans who might be nervous about a reboot of something this beloved.
Coogler also revealed that he had spoken with original X-Files star Gillian Anderson about the project, though no details of those conversations have emerged. Progress on the reboot had been slower than expected while Coogler was tied up with Sinners, currently an Oscar frontrunner with a record 16 nominations, and Disney+’s Ironheart. But with those commitments largely behind him, the X-Files reboot has picked up serious momentum over the past couple of months, with Yale coming on board as showrunner, sealing the deal.
Deadwyler, meanwhile, is shaping up to be one of the busiest actors in Hollywood right now. As well as the X-Files pilot, she’s set to star in the upcoming HBO comedy series Rooster alongside Steve Carell, and will also appear in the long-awaited Season 3 of Euphoria. She’s clearly a performer very much in demand, and her casting here suggests Coogler is aiming for serious dramatic weight alongside the genre thrills.
For those who need a refresher, the original X-Files starred David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, who investigated cases involving paranormal activity, government conspiracies, and all manner of unexplained phenomena. The series premiered on Fox in 1993 and ran for nine hugely influential seasons, spawning two feature films, The X-Files (1998) and The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008), as well as a two-season revival in 2016. It remains one of the most beloved and influential genre series ever made, which makes the pressure on Coogler’s reboot all the more real.
The ‘X-Files’ reboot is currently classed as “in development”, so may not go to series. If it does land a series order, it will air on Disney+ in the UK and Hulu in the USA.
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