Will a Millennium movie happen without Chris Carter? | SCI FI Wire

 

Lance Henriksen, the veteran sci-fi character actor perhaps best known for playing former FBI profiler Frank Black in the '90s TV series Millennium, has been talking about a feature-film follow-up/sequel for years and has reportedly been approached by investors interested in mounting an independent production, though Fox owns the rights.

Now comes news, via ScreenRant, that Fox itself may be considering a new independent movie based on the Chris-Carter-created show, with Henriksen but without Carter (who also created The X-Files and co-wrote and directed last year's flop The X-Files: I Want to Believe).

Lance Henriksen as Frank Black

I have heard rumblings that Fox are interested in bringing Millennium back to screens—possibly without the involvement of Chris Carter—and this independent route would seem like a way of doing so. It's also believed that the studio intends to make another X-Files film, and again it's possible that Carter won't be involved ... .

Now, be aware that this is speculation, but also something that I have heard through the grapevine, so there might be some truth to it.

Fans recall that the show, which aired on Fox 1996-'99, centered on Black, a former FBI investigator with a history of mental issues, who is recruited by the mysterious Millennium Group, a private group of former law-enforcement personnel who investigate crimes of the supernatural but whose true agenda remained murky and had something to do with the coming millennial year (2000, though the actual new millennium kicked off in 2001).

The show had a rocky creative history, owing to changing executive producers (Carter, then former X-Files writers Glen Morgan and James Wong, then Carter again), network interference and a rambling and at times incoherent mythology. The show was canceled before it could wrap up; a 1999 episode of The X-Files, titled "Millennium," brought back Henriksen as Black to put a coda on the Millennium TV series.

ScreenRant suggests that a new independent Millennium movie would be spearheaded by filmmaker Brett A. Hart, who directed Henriksen in the indie feature Bone Dry:

I spoke with Hart who had this to say about the project:

"As a tremendous admirer of "The Millennium Series" I'm of course very intrigued by the recent rumors that there may indeed be a full length feature on the horizon. If any one can get "Millennium" made it's Lance, and it's been a long time coming. It's time to give the fans what they've been patiently waiting to see... More insight into the aberrant world of Frank Black ... while further elevating and merging storylines, characterization and visuals... and finally closure for one of the finest series ever created. Let's hope as the title sequence suggest "The Time is near" ... and as I've already publicly stated ... my passion and conviction for the series is so deep that I'd direct "Millennium—The Movie" for free just to see it on the big screen."

Not sure how a movie would work: The millennial changeover has come and gone, and basing a film on that would be kind of like calling a movie "Y2K." But Henriksen remains a great screen presence, and it would be nice to see him glowering as Frank Black one last time.

Will a Millennium movie happen without Chris Carter? | SCI FI Wire