20th Century Fox and director/producer Chris Carter have finally revealed the name of the second X-Files movie, The X-Files: I Want to Believe.  According to Carter, the reason for the delay in revealing the title of the film was studio opposition—it was only after the title was approved by Fox’s market research unit that the filmmakers were able to acknowledge the title that they had been using from the earliest stages of script development.

The title refers to the slogan on a poster on the wall of agent Fox Mulder’s basement office in the X-Files TV series that went off the air six years ago (see “X-Files Ending New Shows in May”).  It’s been ten years since the release of the first X-Files film, and it appears clear that Carter and fellow writer/producer Frank Spotnitz are taking the franchise in a different direction with the new film, which reportedly eschews the property’s earlier fascination with aliens in favor of a stand-alone story about the struggle between faith and science.  At least that’s what the Hollywood trades are saying—the script for the new X-Files film has been kept under wraps with cast and crew sworn to secrecy.  Everyone will know on July 25th because “the truth is out there” just waiting for someone to unspool it.