After the series finale of The X-Files back in 2002, it seems that series creator Chris Carter took a good 5+ year vacation. He kind of fell of the map for a while, and it wasn’t until he resurfaced to write and direct the new movie The X-Files: I Want to Believe that people were reminded that the man actually still existed. During his absence from the television world, however, things had changed. J.J. Abrams went from being “the guy who did Felicity“, to being a god among geeks, with his wildly successful shows Alias and Lost. Clearly, Chris Carter has a lot of ground to make up if he wants to reclaim his former fanbase.

Strangely, there is a story from The Hollywood Reporter this week that hints at a mysterious new project in development from Carter. It is a movie called Fencewalker, starring Natalie Dormer, Katie Cassidy and Xzibit, and described as both a “dark drama” and a “coming-of-age semiautobiographical character piece with no supernatural elements”. But if there are no supernatural elements in the film, how does he expect to lure back the geeks who once worshipped him? Well, some people are saying that the lack of information about the movie is a marketing strategy similar to J.J. Abrams’ Cloverfield. Personally I think they’re looking for a connection where none exists. If the movie is still in an early stage of development, then he probably doesn’t want to reveal any details about it yet. I know it sounds crazy in this day and age, but obviously the man can afford to take his time with something. At any rate, I am curious to see if Carter can successfully move to the big screen, and whether or not he will indeed maintain a strong following. Are there still Chris Carter fans out there? Will they want to see a straightforward drama from him?

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