EXCLUSIVE: Now that the official greenlight from Fox has arrived – after extremely lengthy talks between Chris Carter, the network and 20th Century Fox Television – the rest of the pieces of the puzzle that is The X-Files revival are starting to fall into place.

With David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson confirmed to be returning to their iconic roles, the inevitable question of whether or not any further cast members will reprise their roles is lingering. TVWise can reveal that three key X-Files alums are presently being eyed to reprise their roles in the six episode event series.

Those three cast members are none other than Robert Patrick (From Dusk Till Dawn), Annabeth Gish (The Bridge) and Mitch Pileggi (Sons Of Anarchy).

Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish were main cast members for the final two seasons, playing the parts of Special Agent John Doggett and Special Agent Monica Reyes, respectively. While Mitch Pileggi, of course, played FBI Assistant Director Skinner from the closing episodes of the first season onwards.

While sources have stated that the trio are being eyed to reprise their roles, it should be stressed that none of them have deals in place as of yet. In fact, studio insiders tell me that there are no deals in place for anyone outside of Chris Carter, Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. The deal making process will be getting underway in the days and weeks ahead, with some of the actors thus far only receiving feelers to see if they would be available.

Given that, the exact level of their involvement in the revival (assuming the deals close) remains a little uncertain. Sources have indicated that Robert Patrick, for instance, would perhaps appear in a limited number of episodes if he agreed to return, in part because of his contractual obligations to CBS and their drama series Scorpion – which has already been picked up for a second season.

In addition, I have confirmed that William B. Davis, well known for his role as CGB Spender/Cigarette Smoking Man, is also being lined up to appear in the revival (Davis himself revealed this in an interview in his native Canada in the past few days). But like the other three actors there is no formal deal as of yet – it is still early days after all.

Beyond casting other pieces are starting to fall into place. Scouts are presently up in Vancouver and I’m told that the production will be receiving some funding by way of a tax credits programme from the Canadian Government. In addition, a number of writers are currently in talks to join the production team. One such writer is Glen Morgan, who recently created the BBC America series Intruders. From what I’m told he may also serve as an executive producer alongside Chris Carter, but I’ve yet to hear confirmation on that.

Frank Spotnitz’s involvement remains something of a question mark. I hear that both Chris Carter and Fox want him back, but his commitments to Tandem’s Crossing Lines and his recently green-lit Amazon series The Man In The High Castle make it difficult. Even so, my sources are hopeful that he will return in “at least a limited capacity”. Equally, I hear that another successful and busy X-Files alum, Howard Gordon, will not be involved.

As for the some of the finer details, no one is talking on the specific plot points beyond the fact that the revival will address the lingering storylines left by the initial nine season run and both feature films. That said, I’m told that Carter’s comment in the official press release was misconstrued by some outlets and that the series will consist of both mythology and stand-alone (or “Monster Of The Week”) episodes.

There is also early chatter about a streaming deal for the revival. Presently the original nine season run is available of both Netflix and Amazon Prime in the US, but a deal for exclusive streaming rights is expected to be hammered out in the months ahead. It is early days and it’s not clear if Amazon or Netflix would have the edge here, but the deal will be worth “big money”.

Finally, the studio’s international distribution division (Twentieth Century Fox International Television Distribution) is already bracing for a large number of international deals to close soon after the LA Screenings in May; with The X-Files revival widely expected to be the hottest US scripted drama on the international marketplace for the year ahead.