{"id":44073,"date":"2026-08-14T09:57:06","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T04:57:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=44073"},"modified":"2026-08-14T09:57:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T04:57:06","slug":"chris-carter-on-i-want-to-believe-directors-cut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=44073","title":{"rendered":"Chris Carter on I Want to Believe Director&#8217;s Cut"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-id=\"1617938\" data-title=\"Why X-Files Creator Chris Carter Cut the Kissing from His New Version of I Want to Believe\" data-url=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/2026\/08\/x-files-chris-carter-interview-directors-cut\/\" data-page=\"1\" data-pages=\"1\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/tag\/chris-carter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chris Carter<\/a>\u2019s director\u2019s cut of <i><a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/tag\/the-x-files\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The X-Files<\/a>: I Want to Believe<\/i> \u2014 with the new subtitle <i>Vrach Frankenshteyn<\/i> \u2014 is seven to eight minutes shorter than the original version released theatrically in 2008. That\u2019s not typical of director\u2019s cuts, the TV veteran admits to <i>Consequence<\/i>: \u201cDirector\u2019s cuts are typically kitchen sink cuts where they throw everything back in.\u201d However, he took this as an opportunity to give the movie\u2019s core story \u201cthe proper weight\u201d \u2014 by removing the parts of the movie which focused on the relationship between Mulder (<a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/tag\/david-duchovny\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">David Duchovny<\/a>) and Scully (<a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/tag\/gillian-anderson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gillian Anderson<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p><i>I Want to Believe<\/i> features the now-retired FBI agents getting dragged back into one more case, involving a mad scientist with an interest in transplanting heads in the quest for immortality. In terms of justifying the decision to cut scenes and even lines focused on the relationship between his two lead characters, Carter said that Seasons 10 and 11 of the show, revived in the 2010s, gave <i>X-Files<\/i> fans \u201ctheir fill of Mulder and Scully and their relationship. Scully reveals she\u2019s pregnant at the end of Season 11, so you know they\u2019re sleeping together, so that doesn\u2019t need to be any great shocker in the movie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In Seasons 10 and 11, Mulder and Scully are depicted as living independently from each other, with exactly one confirmed sexual encounter over the course of 16 episodes (included seemingly to set up that pregnancy reveal). But that appears to be the level of romance that Carter feels is true to the core of the series.<\/p>\n<p>Related Video<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI always felt that the studio didn\u2019t really know <i>The X-Files<\/i> very well when they greenlit this movie originally,\u201d he says. \u201cThey forced us to put that romantic element in there, when it took away from the good <i>X-Files<\/i> story. In this cut, I simply wanted to take the weight off of the one thing and put it on the darker story.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The cuts are pretty decisive, like removing the beginning of one scene, featuring Mulder and Scully in bed together. That scene began with Scully saying \u201cI can\u2019t sleep,\u201d a line echoed later in the scene by Mulder saying \u201cNow I can\u2019t sleep.\u201d The later section is kept (because it\u2019s more story-focused), making Mulder\u2019s line feel a bit out of nowhere. \u201cIt still works for me,\u201d Carter says when I mentioned it. \u201cYou know, it\u2019s revealed that he\u2019s in bed\u2026 It\u2019s inference.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The other major edits featured in <i>Vrach Frankenshteyn<\/i> involved amplifying the more grotesque elements of the story, which Carter had to trim originally to receive a PG-13 rating from the MPAA in 2008. The new version reflects what Carter is pretty sure would have gotten an R back then \u2014 even if it\u2019s not nearly as shocking as what we might see today on even network television. \u201cThis is the irony. I could have done more on a TV episode than I could do for a PG-13 rating for the big screen, which was always disappointing to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1617942\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1617942\" src=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/x-files-i-want-to-believe-david-duchovny-gillian-anderson.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=1024&amp;fit=1031%2C580&amp;strip=\" alt=\"X-Files I Want to Believe Directors Cut No Kissing \" class=\"size-large wp-image-1617942\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/x-files-i-want-to-believe-david-duchovny-gillian-anderson.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/x-files-i-want-to-believe-david-duchovny-gillian-anderson.jpg?resize=150,84 150w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/x-files-i-want-to-believe-david-duchovny-gillian-anderson.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/x-files-i-want-to-believe-david-duchovny-gillian-anderson.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/x-files-i-want-to-believe-david-duchovny-gillian-anderson.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/x-files-i-want-to-believe-david-duchovny-gillian-anderson.jpg?resize=1031,580 1031w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/x-files-i-want-to-believe-david-duchovny-gillian-anderson.jpg?resize=590,332 590w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/x-files-i-want-to-believe-david-duchovny-gillian-anderson.jpg?resize=278,156 278w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/x-files-i-want-to-believe-david-duchovny-gillian-anderson.jpg?resize=173,97 173w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/x-files-i-want-to-believe-david-duchovny-gillian-anderson.jpg?resize=140,79 140w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/x-files-i-want-to-believe-david-duchovny-gillian-anderson.jpg?resize=198,111 198w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/x-files-i-want-to-believe-david-duchovny-gillian-anderson.jpg?resize=674,378 674w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1617942\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The X-Files: I Want to Believe (20th Century Fox)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The MPAA, Carter says, took offense at \u201call the stuff in the lab, the bodiless head, things like that. That\u2019s the stuff that they took offense at. And so I wanted to put that back in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carter added the subtitle <i>Vrach Frankenshteyn<\/i> to underline this new cut\u2019s focus on the monster-of-the-week story, which is not the first instance of him using German in titles. The show\u2019s run featured episodes named \u201cDie Hand die Verletzt,\u201d \u201cHerrenvolk,\u201d \u201cUnruhe,\u201d and \u201cSein und Zeit.\u201d Seasons 10 and 11 also included four episodes entitled \u201cMy Struggle I-IV,\u201d which invokes the idea of <i>Mein Kampf<\/i>, though Carter clarifies that the titles of those episodes are not a Hitler reference \u2014 they\u2019re instead intended as a nod to the <i>My Struggle<\/i> novels written by Norweigian author Karl Ove Knausg\u00e5rd.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone\u2019s always asking me about the German component. It really came as a result of [<i>X-Files<\/i> producer and <i>I Want to Believe<\/i> co-writer] Frank Spotnitz and my interest in Operation Paperclip. Although in the pilot episode [of <i>The X-Files<\/i>], there is a doctor who does regression hypnosis, whose name is Heitz Werber. That is a German name too. And I was told specifically when we did the pilot episode that he should not speak with a German accent, even though I never imagined that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Talking about other core <i>X-Files<\/i> facts, composer Mark Snow scored every season of the series as well as the two movies, but sadly passed away in 2025. Carter confirms that the new cut only utilizes the original score, but for one sequence he added \u201cTheme from Harry\u2019s Game\u201d by the Irish group Clannad. \u201cI think that\u2019s a beautiful scene now, in a way it wasn\u2019t in the original movie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Having been through the experience of this new cut, Carter isn\u2019t quite sure if there\u2019s stuff he\u2019d still want to fix, if he magically had the ability to do so. \u201cIt\u2019s a good question. I don\u2019t quite know how to answer it. We wrote a script. We were very happy with the script. They made us make some changes that I wasn\u2019t happy with. I have gone into the cut and taken seven minutes of that out, and put the emphasis on the right things rather than the tangential things. So would I do anything differently? I have to say for this story, no. It is the scary story we set out to tell, for better or worse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Looking forward, Carter is hoping to find a theatrical release for <i>Queens for a Day<\/i>, an independent movie he made with his wife Dori Pierson that he describes as \u201ca horror fable fantasy odyssey\u201d that he thinks <i>X-Files<\/i> fans will love. (He\u2019s hoping the movie can hit theaters before the 2026 midterm elections, as \u201cit\u2019s got a political element.\u201d)<\/p>\n<p>Carter is clear that he wants to stay out of the way of Ryan Coogler\u2019s in-progress <i>X-Files<\/i> reboot, and hasn\u2019t read the script for the project. \u201cI don\u2019t want to compete with it in any way.\u201d However, he does still hope to one day pay off the story he was setting up with the \u201cMy Struggle\u201d episodes of Seasons 10 and 11, as he feels those episodes \u201cset up something very big\u2026 It may be the biggest idea that I\u2019ve ever had for the show.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He doesn\u2019t know if this idea would work as a stand-alone movie, but \u201cI love making movies and I love making two hours of something, rather than eight hours of individual hours of something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That said, even after over 30 years, \u201cI just love it all. I love telling <i>X-Files<\/i> stories.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i>The X-Files: I Want to Believe \u2014 Vrach Frankenshteyn<\/i> premieres Friday, August 14th on Hulu.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The X-Files: I Want to Believe - Vrach Frankenshteyn | Official Trailer | Hulu\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vbmA8V65czY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n\t\t!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n\t\tn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\n\t\tn.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=1;\n\t\tt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,\n\t\tdocument,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n\t\tfbq('init', '1753966171496536');\n\t\tfbq('set','agent','tmgoogletagmanager', '1753966171496536');\n\t\tfbq('track', \"PageView\");\n\t<\/script><script defer crossorigin=\"anonymous\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js#xfbml=1&#038;version=v7.0&#038;appId=434175690014\" nonce=\"6gwmbCtM\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chris Carter\u2019s director\u2019s cut of The X-Files: I Want to Believe \u2014 with the new subtitle Vrach Frankenshteyn \u2014 is seven to eight minutes shorter than the original version released theatrically in 2008. That\u2019s not typical of director\u2019s cuts, the TV veteran admits to Consequence: \u201cDirector\u2019s cuts are typically kitchen sink cuts where they throw&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/x-files-i-want-to-believe-bts-david-duchovny-gillian-anderson-chris-carter.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsweek-trending"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}