Hulu‘s The X-Files reboot has found its second co-lead.
Himesh Patel (The Franchise, Yesterday) has been cast in writer-director Ryan Coogler‘s revival of the classic Fox series.
Patel will join the previously announced Danielle Deadwyler as one of two FBI agents tasked with investigating paranormal activity.
The Sinners filmmaker will both write and direct the pilot, which has been officially greenlit. Both Patel and Deadwyler are playing new characters — so this is not Fox Mulder and Dana Scully being recast. Original series star Gillian Anderson hinted she might appear in the project, saying she’s read Coogler’s script, telling a reporter, “Have an open mind and give it a chance because it’s going to be fucking cool.”
The new show’s official description: “Two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents form an unlikely bond when they are assigned to a long-shuttered division devoted to cases involving unexplained phenomena.”
This logline is slightly different from the premise of Fox’s original, which debuted in 1993 and ran for nine seasons and spawned two movies. The original series kicked off with Agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) being assigned to the paranormal division to help debunk true believer Agent Fox Mulder’s (David Duchovny) work.
Jennifer Yale (See, The Copenhagen Test) will serve as showrunner. The X-Files‘ original creator and showrunner, Chris Carter, will be a non-writing executive producer on the series. Sev Ohanian and Zinzi Coogler, who are Coogler’s partners at their Proximity Media banner, are also non-writing EPs on the show. Proximity’s Simone Harris is a co-executive producer.
Coogler is considered a great get for Hulu, with the Black Panther director red hot after delivering last year’s most celebrated surprise hit with Sinners, which was nominated for 16 Oscars. Among the film’s Oscar wins were Michael B. Jordan for best actor and Coogler for best original screenplay.
The X-Files will be produced by Onyx Collective and 20th Television and is returning amid a widespread surge of interest in aliens and UFOs. The topic has received congressional attention with several hearings devoted to UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena), recent headlines with presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump weighing in on the topic, and Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film, Disclosure Day, having a premise that sounds straight out of The X-Files.