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Frank Spotnitz on X-Files: I Want to Believe
By Fred Topel | Image property of Fox
The X-Files: I Want to Believe
Director Chris Cater Talks X-Files: I Want to Believe
"Let me just say what a pleasure it is to finally talk about the movie," he said. "We spent the last eight months avoiding talking about the movie. It’s nice to finally get to talk about it."
He's still vague about the story, but Spotnitz can mention themes without giving away any spoilers. "One of the interesting things about writing this movie, coming up with the story, is that Chris [Carter] is a person of faith. I don’t think he is necessarily a believer in any church, but he is a person of faith. I am not. I’m a doubter, I’m a skeptic and this movie is all about faith. I’m very interested in faith, and the question of faith but when it came time to resolving this movie, and coming up with an ending, we were at an impasse. We actually went to script not knowing how to resolve our personal differences. The ending that we came up with, which I think is really the only ending, even if you are a believer, is that you must find God through faith. It’s not going to be proven to you. That’s what I believe as a non-believing spiritual person. If there is a God, it is going to require your faith to find him."
Spotnitz the producer battled with Spotnitz the writer when it came time to actually film the scenes he had written. "I just kept wondering, 'Who was dumb enough to write this in the snow?' It was extremely uncomfortable. I’m from Arizona, so I have no tolerance for the snow. I was bundled up like the Michelin man the entire time we were there but it was important for us to go back to Vancouver. It felt like going home to us, because it was the city that really built our success, and we had to leave after five years. We all wanted to go back there. We wrote the script to work in and around Vancouver. Aside from the people and crew, who are phenomenal, there is just a quality about Vancouver, the light, the feel of the city that just adds atmosphere to the film. I think you really see that in the movie. The snow is forbidding. It’s a hostile environment, without anything even happening. That environment is just not hospitable to human life and things can be hidden in it."
I Want to Believe is a full-on Scully and Mulder story, without Agent Doggett, who replaced the male lead when David Duchovny left the show. Spotnitz has no regrets though.
"For me, the last two years of the show were among the most fun and most satisfying years of the show. Obviously, we couldn’t have planned for the show going nine years, or for David reducing his presence on the show. Obviously Doggett and Reyes were not part of the original design. That’s not even an attempt at a secret. It was enormously challenging and satisfying to write for those characters. I understand why a number of fans just couldn’t get emotionally invested without Mulder there. That makes total sense. The show was built around Mulder. There has been a bit of conventional wisdom about those last two years, that really isn’t corresponding to reality because the show’s ratings actually grew when Robert Patrick came in."
The X-Files: I Want to Believe is out in theaters now.
For trailers, stills, posters and more info, go to The X-Files: I Want to Believe Movie Page.
Fred Topel
Sources: Image property of Fox
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