It’s been five years since The X-Files final episode was aired and nine years since the feature film was released. Though a second film has been rumored for many years, fans had begun to suspect that a new film would be as likely as the government admitting there’s a Roswell cover-up. Well, it looks like things may have changed.

The X-Files was created by Chris Carter and debuted on September 10, 1993 on FOX. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson starred as FBI Agents Mulder and Scully who investigated cases of paranormal activity called “X-Files.” The series ran for 201 episodes and inspired a short-run spin-off series (The Lone Gunmen) and a feature film in 1998 (The X-Files: Fight the Future). The series popularity declined in its later years and it ended on May 19, 2002 with more than a few mysteries left unsolved. The show remains popular and was named the second greatest cult show of all time in 2006 by TV Guide.

Since Hollywood is so hot to stick with known properties (hence the big-screen adaptations of Underdog, The Dukes of Hazzard, Magnum P.I., etc., etc., etc.), it seems like another X-Files film would be an easy greenlight. Not so. Back in early 2004, Duchovny said he believed a second film would begin production in “the next year or so.” Nope. In 2005, Duchovny told reporters that he expected to shoot “X-Files 2” later that year or in early 2006. Didn’t happen.

Now, after years of delays, things are moving forward. It seems the movie was delayed due to an ongoing lawsuit between series creator Chris Carter and the FOX studio over syndication profits. The lawsuit has reportedly now been settled. Both Duchovny and Anderson have finally been signed to do the film. Anderson recently said, “Every year or two they talk about it again, but it seems like it might be for real this time. Somehow it seems like somebody’s really serious about it ”

The film’s plot details however remain locked away, safe from prying eyes — even those of Agent Scully. Anderson revealed, “I keep in e-mail contact with Chris but he won’t talk about it. At all.” Mulder’s alter-ego Duchovny seems to have uncovered a few more details. He says that the movie will focus mostly on the core characters Mulder and Scully (sorry Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish) and will be a standalone supernatural thriller. It won’t directly relate to the alien conspiracy that became the series’ overlying storyline. If the film does well, Duchovny believes there will be additional movies as well.

Will the film touch on any of the questions left hanging by the end of the series — like the fact that there’s a world-ending alien invasion coming on December 22, 2012? It doesn’t sound like it but Anderson says that the movie sequel’s function isn’t to appease the hardcore fans. “I actually don’t have enough of a perspective to say whether questions were answered or whether it [the series] was wrapped up enough in the end, and honestly there’s part of me that doesn’t care. I can be sympathetic to die-hard fans who might feel left in short shrift, but that’s where my sympathies lie!”

Filming should begin in 2008 or sooner. Hopefully the new X-Files movie will be released sometime before Christmas 2012, after which I guess it really wouldn’t matter. Or maybe there will be a government cover up to stop the movie from being released because it reveals too much? Conspiracy lovers, stay tuned!