For my first four years as a lawyer I posted Fox Mulder’s I Want to Believe UFO poster from The X-Files on the back of my office door.  Years later it was a blast hanging with series co-star Mitch Pileggi (Director Skinner) at Comic-Con.  For me and other fans of The X-Files, a new movie trailer in 2026 featuring Mulder and Scully is going to stop us in our tracks.  Unfortunately that trailer isn’t for a new movie, but a director’s cut from creator Chris Carter, a re-look at the second theatrical movie, now called The X-Files: I Want to Believe—Vrach Frankenshteyn.

The director’s cut promises a darker, creepier, gorier, and more violent edit of the 2008 standalone serial killer plot, now with an R rating and a subtitle that is Russian for Dr. Frankenstein, an echo of the mad scientist of the plot.  Mulder (David Duchovny), Scully (Gillian Anderson), and Pileggi return with Billy Connolly, Callum Keith Rennie, Amanda Peet, Alvin “Xzibit” Joiner, and Adam Godley.

It will probably be even better if you skipped the first run of the movie back in 2008–it will be like a new movie entirely, right?  It won’t be in theaters, but it will be streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.  Check out this first look at The X-Files: I Want to Believe—Vrach Frankenshteyn:

If this feels a little like a deja vu, recall that the series returned for a surprise final, new season in 2018.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe — Vrach Frankenshteyn, the R-rated director’s cut of the 2008 theatrical movie The X-Files: I Want to Believe, will stream (along with the original version) on Hulu and Disney+ beginning August 14, 2026.

C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg