No matter how you feel about the way The X-Files officially ended in 2018, it's hard to say that more Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) could ever be a bad thing. As Ryan Coogler develops his upcoming reboot, Disney+ is gearing up for the return of the original cast of fictional FBI agents who captured our hearts back in the '90s with a never-before-seen director's cut of the 2008 feature continuation The X-Files: I Want to Believe. Although the film received mixed reviews upon its release, director Chris Carter, who also created the original series, has been hopeful that his original horror-infused vision for the standalone adventure could one day be unveiled. According to a Disney+ press release, it appears that day is Thursday, June 11.
Chris Carter Has Wanted a Director's Cut of 'The X-Files: I Want to Believe' For Years
For years now, there have been rumors of another cut of The X-Files: I Want to Believe that was truer to Carter's initial vision for the project. From deleted scenes included on the home video release to off-handed comments by those involved. Last June, Carter was a guest on the Fail Better with David Duchovny podcast where the pair spoke about the creator's hopes to see his directorial intent restored. "I made it too scary, basically, and I was told so by the brass at Fox, and they wanted a PG-13 movie," he revealed. "So we cut it back to be a PG-13 movie, and we thought, 'Okay, we've satisfied their demands.'" Of course, the lackluster reception to I Want to Believe proved anything but satisfactory, and it's no wonder that the next time The X-Files returned, it was as a revival series rather than a third feature. But Carter let slip something else about this horror-tinged cut of the film: he finally got the go-ahead to release it.
Now I have a chance to go back and make the scary movie that I always intended to make. It's not just doing a director's cut to do a director's cut. It's really kind of bringing to life something that, for me, was on the page but never got to the screen.
This is good news for fans, like this author, who genuinely see the vision in I Want to Believe. The film itself is a careful exploration of character in the same vein as the show's very best monster-of-the-week episodes. It was always standalone in nature, and that's part of why it worked as a continuation project. But to hear that the theatrical cut was tame compared to Carter's original is equally great news, which means that there are still more Mulder and Scully thrills to uncover. Now, admittedly, the Disney+ press release doesn't reveal much. All it says is that "The X-Files: I Want to Believe – Director's Cut | Bonus Feature" will appear on the platform on June 11. However, some have taken this to speculate that we may not be getting the director's cut itself, but rather a bonus feature teasing a future release. Whichever way we slice it, there is a director's cut still coming, and that alone is good news.
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'I Want to Believe' Gets a Bad Rap, but It's a Great Return to That Thrilling Monster-of-the-Week Format
The X-Files: I Want to Believe was initially met with mixed reviews from critics and a generally negative reception from fans. Following the 2002 conclusion of the show's initial run, many wanted it to address the prophesied 2012 alien invasion disclosed in the original series finale, "The Truth." Even the title, I Want to Believe, implied that the extraterrestrial angle, as those familiar words had been plastered on the UFO poster behind Mulder's desk for the better part of a decade. Instead, the sequel film reframed the Fox drama's popular catchphrase as an intimate character drama about Scully wrestling with her Catholic faith as she treats a sick young boy who would have been about the same age as her long-lost son, William, whom she gave up for adoption. Meanwhile, Mulder is pulled back into a new supernatural case that he, too, struggles to believe.
While the theatrical cut of the film is nowhere near as bad as many would have you believe, it could certainly benefit from a firmer creative hand from Carter. And no, this director's cut is not just a relabeled version of the "extended cut" that added three minutes of additional footage. If anything, that alone is a thrill for longtime X-Philes. It's the kind of announcement that makes us want to believe that more Mulder and Scully adventures could happen someday, especially as Anderson has been more interested in reprising her role since Coogler got involved. We'll see what the future holds for The X-Files, but for those itching for more (or at least revised) adventures into this world, the highly anticipated director's cut of I Want to Believe will be here soon.
From what we can tell, The X-Files: I Want to Believe — Director's Cut will hit Disney+ on June 11, 2026.
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