‘The X-Files’ Creator Says Ryan Coogler Is Attached to a Series ‘Remount’ with a ‘Diverse Cast’
Ryan Coogler could be exploring extraterrestrials in a possible reboot of “The X-Files.”
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” writer-director Coogler and his Proximity banner are teased to be helming an updated reimagining of the Fox series that aired from 1993 to 2002. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson starred, with the franchise spurring two movies and two continuation seasons between 2016 and 2018 whose quality was controversial among fans.
Original “X-Files” series creator Chris Carter said during the “On the Coast” podcast that the rumored upcoming project will be a “remount” for the legacy series.
“I just spoke to a young man, Ryan Coogler, who is going to remount ‘The X-Files’ with a diverse cast,” Carter shared. “So he’s got his work cut out for him, because we covered so much territory.”
IndieWire has reached out to representatives for Coogler and 20th Century Television for comment. Whatever form the Cooger-led series takes will likely play on Disney-owned Hulu, which also ran Fox’s 2016 and 2018 seasons of the show, post-Disney’s acquisition of 20th Television. Coogler and Proximity inked a multi-year deal with Disney Television in 2021.
Carter was previously tied to a proposed “The X-Files: Albuquerque” animated comedy spinoff series in 2020. The show was described at the time as being centered around a group of outcasts who take on fringe cases too obscure for Mulder and Scully.
Coogler made his feature directorial debut in 2013 with indie film “Fruitvale Station” starring Michael B. Jordan, whom he later directed in 2015’s “Creed” and the “Black Panther” films.
Coogler has since been nominated twice for Oscars for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (for Original Song) and “Judas the Black Messiah” (as a producer for Best Picture) The director is producing TV series “Ironheart,” “Scenes for Minors,” and “Sheba” in addition to the “X-Files” reboot. He will direct “Scenes for Minors” based on his upbringing in the Bay Area and time working at a juvenile detention facility. “Avengers: Kang Dynasty” director Destin Daniel Cretton and writer Chinaka Hodge are co-creating the series with Coogler.
Films “Anthem,” “Bitter Root,” and “Wrong Answer” are also produced by Coogler’s production banner, with him helming “Wrong Answer” starring Michael B. Jordan about an Atlanta math teacher who alters his students’ test scores to receive more state funding for the school.
Coogler reimagining “The X-Files” for modern audiences similarly echoes Oscar winner Jordan Peele’s reboot of “Twilight Zone” for Paramount Plus in 2019.
