|
12/31/98
So I lied. Just a quick update, with the last of this series of pictures. These and the ones from yesterday and the day before are here because I had temporary access to a scanner. As you could see yesterday, my Wizard World ad was pretty battered. I fortunately got in everything that I wanted to, so here are the remaining pictures: the back insert of the international version of the movie soundtrack, featuring "Tubular X" by Mike Oldfield, the cover sheet of the collector's gift set, and the script, making of video, and mini posters from the gift set. Also, I forgot to mention the X-Files Yearbook, which is a special issue of the official magazine with an entire episode guide of seasons 1-5, articles from the previous year's magazine issues, and some new articles too. Pretty cool. In other news, Chris Owens may get a recurring role in Harsh Realm alongside Nicholas Lea. And finally, the movie shirts are no longer being made. Get 'em while you can. Anyway, come back next year!
12/30/98
This will most likely be the last update of 1998! See you next year! Well, I got some more pictures: the movie photo sent out to new members of the fan club, the Topps movie cards ad, the Wizard World soundtrack contest ad, and three different newspaper ads for the movie (The Washington Post): opening day, a smaller ad with acclaim, and an even smaller ad. In other news, Nicholas Lea will most likely play Dexter Green, the main character of Chris Carter's upcoming series, Harsh Realm (based on the comic book).
"The Rain King" will air on January 10, not February 7. So much for being a Valentine's Day episode.
12/29/98
I got pictures of the alien maquette ad and the Nokia cell phone contest flyer (front, middle, and back). More pictures tomorrow. Well, there's a bunch of news that's been going around for the past few days, so I'm just going to let it all out here. Mostly these are from SpoilerVille. First, in "Night of the Living Dead" (season 7, Steven King) a woman will die of fright when a "zombie" approaches her. It turns out to be Mulder. Second, the season 7 sequel to "Unusual Suspects" will be in the present, not 1989, and involve nanotechnology--little tiny robots. Third, the X-Files movie is #15 out of 20 in the Top-Grossing Movies of 1998, at $83.9 million. Just ahead is Antz, and trailing behind is The Wedding Singer. Related news:
"The X-Files became the 18th title of 1998 to pass the century mark overseas. Top markets for special agents Mulder and Scully were Germany ($15.4 million), U.K. ($14 million), France ($11 million), Spain ($5.9 million) and Japan ($5.6 million), where a good fourth round pushed the foreign total to $100.8 million."
Not bad! In "Two Fathers"/"One Son," the person that I said before would die (it required highlighting) will apparently die, but not really. An elder (First Elder or one of the other two minor guys) will die. About all the rumors surrounding those episodes: Take them all with a grain of salt. Although most people are saying that the mythology will supposedly be wrapped up in the 2-parter, keep in mind that there is one more season, including two season finales and a season premiere. And there is supposed to be a mythology 2- or 3-parter this April or May. It's not over. And although those two episodes will tie many things together, expect a lot of questions to be posed, like in the movie. And finally, this is minor merchandise information, there was apparently a press kit made that also featured four other Fox movies (Hope Floats, There's Something About Mary, Dr. Dolittle, and Ever After: A Cinderella Story).
Sources: eBay and Yahoo! News.
12/24/98
I know, it's Christmas Eve, but I have some really neat stuff today. First off, there was an official Active World made for the X-Files movie. I'll explain what that is in a second, but first, there's a few things about it that are kind of weird. I know it's official--or was supposed to be, and rejected by Fox. The Active Worlds site says in their news archives that they presented the environment to Fox at some show, but they never followed up on it after that. And, the world wasn't linked to from the official movie site, even though on the X-Files Active World page, the layout is exactly the same as the HTML version of the official site--as if Fox was going to link to the Active World page, and it would integrate into the site so that the user wouldn't know they switched servers. (The links on the menu bar on the Active World page don't work anyway--they link to the wrong addresses.) This leads me to conclude that Fox rejected the Active Worlds environment for the X-Files movie. But it's still online on the Active Worlds site--and that's where I found it, and you can too, at www.activeworlds.com/x_files/. What is it? It's like a 3D chat room, although it's empty now because no one knows about it. People can go in and chat while they're navigating through the 3D world, which in this case happens to be the cornfield. It looks just like in poster A, with the road. The environment also has some helicopters, one dome, telephone poles, and some burning corn to top it off! When you go to the page, you just download the Active Worlds browser. You have the option to download the X-Files graphics along with it, or you can download it later. Just check it out and you'll see what I mean. I have to say that it's pretty cool. See you there!
I also got some cool season 6 and movie sequel news today. First, read this article from the New York Post, which gives a lot of neat information about the "Two Fathers" 2-parter. There is also a rumor that season 6 will be the last, but I honestly don't believe it.... Damn.... Anyway, there are rumors that Mulder or Mulder and Scully will die in the sequel to the movie, but I don't believe those either. Another hard-to-believe rumor is that Steven Spielberg will be directing the sequel instead of an episode, as rumored earlier. The movie may be released at the beginning of 2000, not in the summer. There are also already rumors about who will be on the movie soundtrack: Garbage, Björk, Foo Fighters, Cher, and a hidden track by Nirvana--a previously unreleased song called "If You Must." Whatever.
Source: The X-Files Information Complex
12/23/98
McFarlane Toys has updated their list of the TV action figure series. Krycek, the Bounty Hunter, and the Lone Gunmen are taking a back seat; here are the 6 figures to be made: Skinner, Cigarette-Smoking Man, Flukeman, El Chupacabra, The Great Mutato, and Conundrum (the puzzle guy from "Humbug"). Cool! This will most likely be Series 2; Series 1 was the movie figures.
Also, I found a cool rumor that Mulder's car will be hit head-on by a train in "One Son."
Sources: Action Figure Times and The X-Files: Declassified.
12/22/98
U.K. fans: Season 6 starts on Sky One on March 2, 1999, not the 7th like I said before.
From SpoilerVille, I got some new information on "Tithonus" and "One Son." In "Tithonus," Kersh splits up Mulder and Scully not because he wants them to fight, but because he wants to salvage Scully's career while it's still possible. To him, the only way to do that is to get her as far away from Mulder as possible. Scully would risk being fired if she didn't comply, so she does. And it seems that "One Son" will involve the rebels and the Syndicate. This 2-parter will definitely tie up most of the loose ends.
12/20/98
I've just been updating one day right after another, but today I've got some really cool stuff. First, Kersh will split up Mulder and Scully in "Tithonus" in an attempt to get them to start fighting with each other. In "Arcadia," the punishment for not taking out the trash, cleaning the lawn, etc. is an attack from garbage monsters! Also, there is a rumor on SpoilerVille about a "Shapes"-like werewolf episode halfway through the season. Anyway, the X-Files movie DVD has been set for release, officially, on April 20, 1999. Interestingly, www.x-filesdvd.com has been registered to Fox Home and links to their site. And finally, this is something that I have never heard of or can explain, but is definitely different from anything I've seen so far. This is a picture of the Mulder and Scully 9" action figures. And here is a closeup. Or at least, that's the only way to possibly explain it. Those aren't the regular action figures, the Barbies, or the statues. And they are unmistakenably from the movie--check the clothes. Fren, who gave me this info and the pictures, says that they are 9 inches tall and were made by McFarlane Toys and released in September. They may be prototypes, and I don't know if they were even released. There was talk about a collector's edition of Mulder and Scully large action figures. If you ask me, they look a lot bigger than 9 inches in the pictures. Also, there were rumors a while back about small 3 3/4" action figures. If you have information on either, please e-mail me. Thanks!
Sources: The Digital Bits, Haven for the FBI's Most Unwanted, and Ringo's Guide to X-Files Action Figures.
12/19/98
Some more sites updated today, including the official site. It now has a limited store (also linked from Fox.com), a season 6 episode guide (with unusually small summaries), the Fan Forum section now links to the new message board, and the Show Info section now has all the L.A. crew members. The print ads in the episode guide are different from 2 of the 3 season 6 print ads in my Archive section, so I've kept them online. The "Triangle" ads in both are the same, so I took that off. Also, Fox Home now has an updated front page, with a new graphic for the X-Files movie video, which is now in my Movie Pictures page.
12/18/98
A brief update for today. First, Cher said that she wants to be in the sequel to the movie. Nothing certain, of course. Also, the Suncoast exclusive t-shirt I mentioned a while ago is the same as the second Mulder and Scully phone shirt. I posted a picture of it a few days ago, before I knew that it was the same thing as the Suncoast shirt. Not to mention, the hat was also made in blue. I think it was only available at the premiere. Also (from SpoilerVille) it seems that Daniel Arkin is no longer writing episodes. "Arcadia" will involve a utopia where people are killed for having dirty lawns, and things like that. Finally, I'd like to mention the updates of two cool sites. Dean Haglund's site has been totally redone with a weird, but cool, interface. Also, The Gillian Anderson Web Site is now The Official Gillian Anderson Web Site (not really new news, but news nonetheless). Apparently, Gillian herself authorized it to be official!
12/17/98
Here's a picture of the German version of poster D. And I got some episode 13 news from SpoilerVille. It will be called "Arcadia." This is the Daniel Arkin fun special-effects episode. Apparently, it has to do with...garbage monsters. Like Oscar the Grouch. Don't ask me.... And, CONGRATULATIONS GILLIAN ANDERSON AND DAVID DUCHOVNY for being nominated for Best Actress and Actor in a Drama in the Golden Globes!! Also, The X-Files was nominated for Best Drama Series.
Sources: eBay and Helix Online.
12/16/98
I have info on two possible upcoming episodes: "Demeter," a shippy (what a surprise) episode, and "Avarice," about the seven deadly sins and evil, from SpoilerVille. I also finally got a picture of the official movie adaptation graphic novel. Not to mention a bigger picture of the old cover for The Making of The X-Files, and a picture of the old cover for the novelization, which is similar.
Source: AnotherUniverse.com
12/15/98
Wow, here are some pictures I never thought I'd get a hold of. Remember that "briefcase CD holder" I mentioned a long time ago??? The one that's listed in the Merchandise section without a picture? Well, it does exist, and here's the picture to prove it! It's a CD case shaped like a briefcase, basically. And here's another cool item: the X-Files movie digital clock. Not bad!
I also updated the air dates of upcoming episodes, from GF2020 on SpoilerVille.
Source: Galactic Highway
12/14/98
Not that I'm going to be cataloguing merchandise from the series, but McFarlane Toys is going to make action figures of Skinner, CSM, the Lone Gunmen (separately), and the Bounty Hunter with Krycek. Pretty cool. Also, the total non-North American gross for the movie is now at $97.1 million, with the recent opening in Japan. Anyway, "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" wasn't bad, but I'm about ready for a real episode. It was fun, but at least the "Dreamland" episodes and "Triangle" had some sort of plot. Here we're just listening to some ghosts plotting how to foil Mulder and Scully. No mystery or suspense, just silly stuff. I think, for once, that it's getting old. I will say, however, that I loved the end with the presents and all that. That was a nice scene.
Source: Haven for the FBI's Most Unwanted
12/13/98
More merchandise news, and possibly even more coming up soon. First, poster D was printed in a huge 48x72" "bus stop" format. I don't know about the other posters. Second, the poster I mentioned a while ago which was poster D with no text (meaning no "Fight the Future") except for the credits, was made for the video release. Third, here is the X-Files movie promotional guide, given out only 1 per theater. It's on the lower right of the picture. It has suggestions on promoting the movie. Here is the promo magnet for the video. It's about the same as the button. I also got a picture of the black hat. One more merchandise-related thing, and it's a movie crew item: something given out by Chris Carter as a gift. It's an X-Files Nike sports bag, and even though it has the series logo, it's for the movie crew (the logo didn't exist yet). Finally, here's a picture of the third movie statues ad which I mentioned a few weeks ago.
Source: eBay
12/12/98
I got some really cool merchandise news today. First, there is an ad slick/flyer-type thing for the busts which is 8.5x11". That's different from the promo poster for the busts. Here's something really interesting: an alien mask, official and licensed, only 1000 made. It's hand-painted and autographed inside by the sculptor/painter. I don't know who made it, but the only place to get it now is eBay. Also, the press-only shoulder bag and the bag that comes with the season-4 box set in some stores in Europe may be different, but I'm not quite sure about that. And here's another X-Files t-shirt. Look closely at the image. It may seem the same as the "Mulder and Scully on Phone" t-shirt, but in that shirt they are on opposite sides of the X. Here, they're both at the bottom. Hmm.... I also have info on another t-shirt, but this one is a press-only promo. It just has the FTF logo on the upper-left corner on the front like the others, and is grey. Also, the LaserDisc version of the movie may have 2 discs, I'm not exactly sure, because I saw the box and it has 3 sides listed. And finally, the 2 posters that come with the second official French fan club magazine for the movie are in fact one double-sided poster.
On an unrelated topic, I'd like to say that Star Trek: Insurrection kicked ass! Forget the bad reviews! If you're a Trekkie or a Trekker, or just loyal to The X-Files, you'll love it.
Sources: eBay and Emerald City Poster Company.
12/10/98
Here is the CD-ROM given out at the EXPO, which has trailer A on it. And here is a picture of the box that the trading cards come in--36 packs to a box. Also, it turns out that the French SFX magazine, although it has the logos and comes with a cool enhanced CD, isn't official. The CD, however, is. So I've moved the cover image to the Movie Pictures page. Finally, be sure to check out the Info section for a much improved listing of scenes taken out of the final movie, including major and minor cut scenes, cut sounds, and scenes from the script never filmed.
Sources: eBay and The X-Files.
12/9/98
Well, I have to say that I regret stumbling onto this spoiler. Someone posted it to the newsgroup, with spoiler space, but it was in the subject line! Well, I was trying to avoid it, but highlight the following to find out who will most likely be killed in "Two Fathers": Spender. It isn't, however, confirmed and the source didn't seem that sure either. Also the rumors are that the person might not actually be killed--this would be revealed in "One Son."
12/8/98
Okay, so I fixed the quote. It was wrong before, but it is now what Scully actually said! Anyway, Wave 7 and 8 are on the way! Check it out, from the newsgroup:
Wave 7 will be:
"Herrenvolk"/"Home"
"Tunguska"/"Terma"
"Unruhe"/"Paper Hearts"
Wave 8 will be:
"Leonard Betts"/"Memento Mori"
"Tempus Fugit"/"Max"
"Small Potatoes"/"Gethsemane"
Also, fans will be able to purchase their favorite collectors' cards "enlarged
and suitable for framing."
NOTE: It's possible that an episode or two of Wave 8 will change before it's actually released. Wave 7 is set, though--they are already designing the sleeves.
Wave 9 will have episodes from season 5. Anyway, Scully will be assigned to a new, young agent in "Tithonus."
Source: Haven for the FBI's Most Unwanted
12/7/98
"Dreamland II" was great, I don't care what anyone thinks. It's time to stop overanalyzing episodes that aren't meant to be overanalyzed. Anyway, it seems that Chris Carter isn't the only millionaire to come out of The X-Files:
"Twentieth Century Fox TV has inked an exclusive, seven-figure overall deal with Vince Gilligan, co-executive producer of The X-Files and screenwriter of the feature film Home Fries. The deal calls for Gilligan to develop new TV series with 20th and Chris Carter's Ten Thirteen Prods. while he continues as one of the top writers on The X-Files."
Here is a much better picture of the collector's set box. I also have some season 6 news from SpoilerVille (GF2020). The Bounty Hunter will be in 3 episodes. The Arthur Dales episode (continuing "Travelers") won't be a 4-parter as originally rumored, but probably just a stand-alone, written by John Shiban. New writer Daniel Arkin's new episode will be a fun episode with some cool visual effects. The Lone Gunmen-Suzanne Modeski "Unusual Suspects" continuation will be written by Vince Gilligan and may appear in this or the next season. Also, here's a cool tidbit about the "Two Fathers" two-parter and the 9th issue of the official magazine:
"The magazine’s editors will be on the set during the filming of episodes 11 and 12 in December, in which the tangled web of the show’s mythology will be, in some ways, resolved. The alien presence on Earth, government cover-ups, the abduction of Agent Fox Mulder’s sister Samantha, and other storylines will all be addressed. The episodes will air in mid-February, while X-Files Magazine #9 is scheduled to arrive in stores with full coverage of the episodes on January 26."
And wait! Just one more cool tidbit, on the filming of the movie:
"As a true spy I'll let you in on a fun tidbit that Fox has worked very hard to keep from the press. Remember the X-Files film? Remember the bees? Turns out many of them escaped during the shoot last winter and wreaked some major havoc on the Fox lot for a few weeks. Grips beware the killer X-Files bees!"
Sources: eBay, Yahoo! News, Diamond Comics, and Ain't it Cool News.
12/5/98
...And the new DVD release date is March 9, 1999. Also some merchandise info here. There are apparently two hats for the movie, not just one. One is grey and the other is black. Also, that press-only movie briefcase that I have listed in the Merchandise section is also being given away with the purchase of the 4th-season box set in Europe. I got a better description of it, too:
"It's black with the TXF/FTF logo on the front, a shoulder strap and uses
Velcro rather than a zipper to open/close it. It has a single compartment
with a small pocket inside it. It has room for four pens/pencils, etc. on
the left-hand side, and a small pocket on the right-hand side."
Anyway, here is a picture of the November issue of the French magazine SFX. That issue looks pretty official to me. It also has an offer to order the official CD-ROM (I guess it's an enhanced CD). This CD has the trailers, TV spots, interviews, videos, pictures, info on the making of the movie, biographies, a synopsis, filmographies, press kits (electronic?), and the screensaver. Also it has audio: the X-Files theme, 2 songs from the soundtrack, and interviews with GA, CC, and DD. Finally, I have info on an 11x17" promo soundtrack flat, different from the 12x12" one:
"The first side of this 11x17" flat has 'THE X-FILES: THE ALBUM' on the top (or 17" edge). Underneath that are 4 lines giving the names
of the artists perfoming on the disc. Below the names is a line. Below the line is 'THE ORIGINAL SCORE ALBUM.'
Below that is "BY MARK SNOW." Off to the side is the same X inside an
oval that is described below (without the perforations). The flip side is all black except for an oval that has an X inside. This looks very much like it is a light projection angled onto a
surface. Then there are perforations around this oval allowing someone to extract it from the flat."
One more thing, and it's a funny spoiler for "S.R. 819." Krycek will be wearing a disguise featuring a wig and a beard!
Sources: Emerald City Poster Company, The X-Files, and X-Informant's Spoiler Conspiracy.
12/2/98
The movie DVD has been delayed most likely because more extras will be added to it! Let's hope it'll be worth the wait. It's not even clear if February 9 was the official release date in the first place. Anyway, here is an interesting item: a pass given out on June 1, 1998 (the day before the soundtrack came out) to people at the Virgin Megastore in L.A. for the signing event. The passes made sure that the people actually bought an album to sign. Here's another item that I don't have a picture of:
"Great 1 1/2" square key chain. The key chain is clear plastic with a printed insert. The front is black with the X-Files logo in the center. Above it reads 'The Official X-Files Film Books Only from HarperPrism.' Below it reads 'Fight the Future' in red and below that is the HarperPrism logo and the 20th Century Fox logo. The back of this insert is plain white."
Sources: eBay and The DVD File.
11/30/98
I've got some cool spoilers and stuff today, but first, a few comments. "Dreamland" was great!! It was funny as hell (I was surprised by how silly it got at times...i.e. the mirror scene), and the story was good and thought-provoking. Nice use of quantum mechanics! David Duchovny, I must say, was hilarious. He should go into comedy or something. Kim Manners did a good job of directing too. Well, on to something else that I've been wanting to get out for a while. I've heard from various places that "Dreamland"/"Dreamland II" is supposed to be the first non-mythology two-parter. I think that's totally wrong. "Tempus Fugit"/"Max" definitely had some "mythological overtones," as some people say it, but it was not a mythology 2-parter. It had to do with the greys and abductions and coverups, but it was kind of a self-enclosed type of thing. It didn't fit into the rest of the mythology, just kind of a mini-mytharc having to do with a 3-part alien device. No Syndicate, CSM, or anyone else that usually shows up in mythology episodes. (But, since it could still actually happen in the X-Files world, I decided to include it in the Mythology section anyway.) The "Dreamland" 2-parter is the same kind of thing. Although it is much more humorous than the "Tempus Fugit" 2-parter, it still has to do with Area 51 and UFOs. That doesn't make it a mythology episode. In fact, there are a bunch of episodes that could fit into the same class as the above 4. A bunch of 1st-season episodes had "mythological overtones," well, as much mythology as you could get back then. "Conduit" had audio of Mulder's hypnotic regression at the end, "Fallen Angel" had UFOs and coverups, but nothing to do with the rest of the mythology (invisible aliens). "E.B.E." had the greys, but not much was revealed. What else.... "Little Green Men," "Avatar," "Wetwired," and "Demons" even (it had some flashbacks, but little else). So what I'm saying is that even if an episode has aliens, UFOs, or the like, it doesn't make it "count" in the mythology of the show. That counts for the Max Fenig episodes, for "Dreamland," and for any earlier episodes like that. It's been acknowledged that "Dreamland" isn't mythology, but only because it's a comedy. "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'" isn't mythology, but look: it has UFOs, aliens, and men in black! So my point? There are some episodes that serve merely as stand-alones, while others are meant to be real. There! I'm done now.
Anyway, the collector's gift sets are apparently already sold out in stores! Bad luck if you missed it. Also, on those special cards that come in the video boxes, the phrase "The Truth Must Be Told" is repeated over and over again in really small print in the background. This could be proof that the tagline will indeed be changed sometime this season! And finally, the spoilers. "Dreamland II" will have young Mulder, Samantha, and CSM. Now hold it! If you read that paragraph above, you'd think this episode is turning into a mythology episode, and that I'm contradicting myself. I'm not, those characters appear in a "home video" fun flashback type of thing. Scully will handcuff Mulder/Morris to Mulder's bed (he has a bedroom!), but it's not as sexy as it sounds. That's about it for today!
11/29/98
British fans: Season 6 should start on Sky One on March 7, 1999.
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING! It is a message from The Reaper, former webmaster of the official site, which hasn't been updated in months. It is important to note that he is not to blame for the lack of updates, that's Fox's fault. Please do as he says and send e-mail complaining about the site. That is the only way to get changes made. This message was posted on the official message board before it went down (see news from a few days ago for the new message board URL--this message was written before the new one went up).
Message: "Sick of it all..."
Posted by: The Reaper
Date: October 28 1998 at 5:06 PM
Chances are very good that these baords will go down this weekend with no ETA on when they will be back up. If this happens, email me your complaints and put BOARD COMPLAINTS in teh subject. I will be sure to turn these over to Ten Thirteen. Do not email me with complaints or opinions about the show, just the web site (which has not been updated in over 6 weeks) and the message boards (which you've seen the problems firsthand). To remedy all of these problems the feedback needs to get to Ten Thirteen and they have asked me to collect it for them even though I no longer work for FOX.
The web site is severely hurting, the need for multi-language versions of it has existed for years, half the merchandise that exists is not even featured on the site let alone international merchandise, the new home video, the movie needs to be added to the episode guide as well as all the constant updating. Email me with any and all complaints regarding the web site.
Write down my email address cuz when the boards go down you'll have no other way of knowing. The plan is to re-create the boards and have everyone re-register so handles will be unique, but I no longer know if that is still the plan. I do know the plan is still to delete all the messages and re-create everything on new servers, but it no longer looks like that will be a smooth pocess since I am not involved.
FYI what I had in miond for the web site that I pushed for was that there be a create-your-own home page section where fans can create legal x-files fan pages using legally approved materials provided by FOX with their guidance. The lawyers loved this idea by the way, someone just needs to come up with the money to pay for it, and as I'm sure you know the legal department does not have a web budget. I also wanted to have the X-Files Official web site be customizable based on a fan's needs. For example if you were dialing in from Latin America you can choose settings so the web site is in Spanish or Portuguese and/or only displays information pertinent to your country, meaning merchandise in your language, local schedules, etc. The plans I had also included web-based email where you can get your own address @thex-files.com and web-based chat, and to top it all off a store that features all x-files merchandise especially international merchandise in all the various languages that it is available, AND that ships internationally. There's also a lot of behind the scenes stuff I had planned that you wouldn't see, stuff that makes it easier for you to find fans that share the same interests.
Scream to me about the web site and the boards, I'll pass the info along, and you will be heard. Oh yeah, and spread the word.
Reaper - looking out for the fans - still reapr@earthlink.net
Please CC your message to askfox@foxinc.com.
Sources: Haven for the FBI's Most Unwanted and The PA X-Files.
|
