X-Files July 25

The Basics: The truth is out there somewhere. But the director Chris Carter isn't offering it. He promises only that the new film won't involve the alien colonization plotline that was a staple of the TV series and 1998 movie. Instead, it will be akin to the episodes that favored monsters, cults and paranormal.

The Bait: Mulder e Scully. X-Files brings back David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as the believer-and-skeptic team, a coupling that Carter says still resonates. "When we first got on set and I saw them together, I got chills", he says. "They've always had a chemistry that's rare in television. It was like having the family back together."

A possible trap: The show went out with more whimper than bang as fans found the mythology plotlines too convoluted. Are they up for another case?