“The X-Files: I Want to Believe ”gets scarier, R-rated director’s cut: See the trailer (exclusive)

Derek Lawrence Tue, August 4, 2026 at 6:00 PM UTC

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David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson in ‘The X-Files: I Want To Believe’Credit: Diyah Pera/FOXKey Points -

Watch the exclusive trailer for The X-Files: I Want to Believe — Vrach Frankenshteyn.

The new film is Chris Carter’s director’s cut of his 2008 X-Files movie.

The scarier, R-rated version releases Aug. 14 on Hulu Disney+.

You better believe it: Chris Carter’s darker director’s cut of The X-Files: I Want to Believe is finally seeing the light of day.

Eighteen years after the release of the second X-Files feature film, fans will get the chance to see the original vision from Carter, the series creator and I Want to Believe writer-director. EW has the exclusive first look at the horror movie-like trailer for The X-Files: I Want to Believe — Vrach Frankenshteyn. (The two new additions to the title are Russian for “Victor Frankenstein.”)

“We set out to make a real-life Frankenstein movie, and due to a variety of factors, our Frankenstein never completely left the operating room,” Carter tells EW. “A chance to apply the electrodes again was a special thrill.”

Released in 2008, six years after the original series concluded, I Want to Believe reunited David Duchovny’s Fox Mulder and Gillian Anderson’s Dana Scully, with the former FBI special agents drawn back together by the disappearances of several women. The paranormal investigators soon come across a disgraced Catholic priest who claims to be experiencing psychic visions of a missing FBI operative.

David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, and Chris Carter on the set of ‘The X-Files: I Want to Believe’Credit: Diyah Pera/Twentieth Century Fox

“I made it too scary, and I was told so by the brass at Fox, and they wanted a PG-13 movie,” Carter told Duchovny last year. “Now I have a chance to go back and make the scary movie that I always intended ... 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 and never got to the screen.”

Written by Carter and Frank Spotnitz, I Want to Believe was viewed at the time as a disappointing follow-up. Plagued by poor reviews, the supernatural thriller grossed only $68 million, a notable step down from the 1998 film’s $189 million.

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Almost a decade after I Want to Believe, Carter, Duchovny, and Anderson reunited for two additional seasons of the series. And Hulu’s release of Carter’s director’s cut is just part of the streamer’s current plans for the X-Files franchise. Oscar-winning filmmaker Ryan Coogler (Sinners) recently completed production on a pilot episode for a Hulu reboot that stars Station Eleven duo Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel.

Anderson has been vocally supportive of the new project, calling it “different” and “special,” and urging fans to “give it a break.”

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‘The X-Files: I Want to Believe — Vrach Frankenshteyn’ key artCredit: Disney+/Hulu

“We’ve had a few conversations,” she recently said of Coogler. “He’s such a cool guy, and so talented. And the pilot script is really good. I would say, have an open mind and give it a chance, because it’s gonna be f---ing cool.”

The X-Files: I Want to Believe — Vrach Frankenshteyn premieres Aug. 14 on Hulu and Disney+.

on Entertainment Weekly

Original Article on Source

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