Decoding The X-Files

Only Carter knows if a similar fate awaits Mulder and Scully. Or when. ""We don't know if the show's going to end at six, seven, eight, nine years,'' says writer Spotnitz--with or without Duchovny. ""It is conceivable that it could be done without both of them,'' Carter says hypothetically, noting that he himself still hasn't signed a contract for another year. The movie also solves much of the mystery Mulder and Scully have been chasing on TV for five years. Does that kill the frustrating fun of ""The X-Files,'' with a new season starting in four months? ""We have answered some questions,'' Carter says. ""But we have plenty left unanswered. What's interesting to me--and I'm a little afraid to reveal too much--is that in defining the conspiracy, you also conjure questions of the various parties' morality. The suggestion that the Syndicate is working on a cure brings into relief the question of, Is Mulder's pursuit good or bad?'' Imagine next season with Cancer Man as the good guy, Mulder the bad guy and the recently added Agent Spender (Chris Owens, a possible Duchovny replacement) trying to figure out what the hell's going on. The X-Files are reopened at the end of the movie. Fight the future. Unless it means sequels.

NAME: DAVID DUCHOVNY. AGE: 37. MISC.: Scholarship student, basketball fan, wiseacre. Father once published a quote collection called "The Wisdom of Spiro T. Agnew." Explains where the compulsively droll "X-Files" star got his sense of humor. Barely capable of a straight answer. Asked in past interviews about the top-secret movie plot, responded: "At the end, they're in bed and she's reading 'The Bridges of Madison County' and he's reading 'The Horse Whisperer.' Of all the work I've done, I'm most proud of that final scene." Asked about the plan to end a cliffhanger "X-Files" TV episode with a movie, replies, "You shouldn't be able to have the culmination of a free show cost money. It's like, 'Hey, your first shot of heroin is free, buddy. Next 500 are on you."

NAME: GILLIAN ANDERSON. AGE: 29. MISC.: Collects bugs, navel pierced, known to be emotional. Recalls: "I was in therapy the other day. Very clearly, I started getting this image. I saw a corrugated tin drum spinning in the air. I was running on the drum and below me was a huge square vat of acid. In front of me was a rope dangling from the ceiling. I was running and running and there was nowhere to go. I thought that if I could get enough momentum I could jump onto the rope and swing. And as I grab the rope, my weight pulls it to the bottom. I'm literally inches from the vat of acid. Finally, I give in. I let go. And I fall into the vat of acid and burn alive. I'm screaming. But in the pain, and in the release of the screaming, I was able to let go of all the things I need to scream about. And then I was set free."

PHOTOS (COLOR): IN FROM THE COLD: Agents Mulder and Scully fight Antarctic frostbite and the Cigarette-Smoking Man's chilling plans for planet Earth