<Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $189.2 million </Td> </Tr> <P> The X-Files (also known as The X-Files: Fight the Future) is a 1998 American science fiction thriller film directed by Rob Bowman . Chris Carter wrote the screenplay . The story is by Carter and Frank Spotnitz . It is the first feature film based on Carter's television series The X-Files, which revolves around fictional unsolved cases called the X-Files and the characters solving them . Five main characters from the television series appear in the film: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi, John Neville, and William B. Davis reprise their respective roles as FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner, Well - Manicured Man, and the Cigarette - Smoking Man . The film was promoted with the tagline Fight the Future . </P> <P> The film takes place between seasons five (episode "The End") and six (episode "The Beginning") of the television series, and is based upon the series' extraterrestrial mythology . The story follows agents Mulder and Scully, removed from their usual jobs on the X-Files, and investigating the bombing of a building and the destruction of criminal evidence . They uncover what appears to be a government conspiracy attempting to hide the truth about an alien colonization of Earth . </P> <P> Carter decided to make a feature film to explore the show's mythology on a wider scale, as well as appealing to non-fans . He wrote the story with Frank Spotnitz at the end of 1996 and, with a budget from 20th Century Fox, filming began in 1997, following the end of the show's fourth season . Carter assembled cast and crew from the show, as well as some other, well - known actors such as Blythe Danner and Martin Landau, to begin production on what they termed "Project Blackwood". The film was produced by Carter and Daniel Sackheim . Mark Snow continued his role as X-Files composer to create the film's score . </P>

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