Disney+ has ordered Ryan Coogler’s reimagining of The X-Files to series, moving one of the most recognisable 1990s TV properties back onto the global streaming map. The show is a Hulu Original from Onyx Collective, produced by 20th Television in association with Coogler’s Proximity Media, and will star Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel.
The order
The series follows two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents thrown together in a long-shuttered division devoted to unexplained phenomena. Coogler wrote, directed and executive produced the pilot and remains an executive producer on the series alongside showrunner Jennifer Yale. Chris Carter, Zinzi Coogler and Sev Ohanian are also executive producers; Deadwyler and Patel serve as co-executive producers.
“I’ve loved The X-Files for a long time, so getting the chance to write and direct the pilot has meant a great deal to me,” Coogler said.
Why the order matters
The original series ran for nine seasons on Fox from 1993, with Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. That raw equity is the point. Disney is not buying an untested idea; it is buying a built-in audience and a prestige creator. For a platform business where subscriber acquisition costs remain high, a known title with a marquee director shortens the path from awareness to sampling.
Distribution also splits cleanly: Hulu gets the title in the US, while Disney+ carries it worldwide. That gives Disney two bites at the same content investment and creates different campaign needs in each market. The structure lets one production feed two subscriber bases without a single global message doing all the work.
What it means for planners
- Treat the revival as an event property: fan nostalgia is the reach layer, but new leads are the conversion layer.
- Build separate Hulu and Disney+ briefs. US and international audiences will not see the same feed placement or buying hooks.
- Use Coogler’s name as the early creative anchor until footage and a premiere date arrive.
The next hard signal for the market will be first-look footage and a launch date. Until then, the value sits in the package: Coogler as writer-director, Carter as steward of the original canon, and two leads with arthouse and mainstream credentials. For entertainment marketers, this is less a reboot story than a test of whether a 90s broadcast franchise can be re-priced as a contemporary streaming event.
Source: C21media
