During a panel for The X-Files at the Television Critics Association conference, show creator Chris Carter admitted he had written a third film before he joined the revival project.
"There was talk of doing a third movie," Carter said, according to Slash Film. "It was casual talk, so I actually wrote a third movie just because I was interested in where that might go."
Carter added that when he got the phone call from Fox about the network's interest in reviving the show as a six-part mini-series, he was shocked. He told the audience that after getting off the phone with the network, he showed the script for the third movie to his wife to get her opinion on whether they could use it for the show. She argued that while it wouldn't work for television, another script he had been working on would be perfect for a mythology episode.
Carter had previously confirmed at New York Comic-Con that the mini-series would be bookended by mythology episodes, or rather, episodes which continue The X-Files central conspiracy theories.
Originally, there were supposed to be eight episodes, but because of scheduling and production issues, they had to scale back down to six. Carter said that in the end it worked out better, allowing the team to put together a couple of mythology episodes and throw in some funnier, scarier stand-alone episodes in between.
Carter didn't expand on whether or not Fox would move forward with a third movie, despite the script was already written.
The X-Files returns to television on Sunday, Jan. 24 at 10 p.m. ET on Fox with the first of a two-part event. The second part will air the following day at the same time. Watch the newest trailer for the show above.
