Chris Carter is having the most independent year of his career. In August, Hulu released his Director’s Cut of his 2008 feature debut, “The X-Files: I Want to Believe – Vrach Frankenshteyn”, finally carrying the title and tone he always intended. Now the 70-year-old X-Files creator is promoting the limited release of his second feature, the self-funded indie “Queens for a Day” — a time-twisting cautionary tale with what IGN describes as a defiantly political message.
X-Files creator Chris Carter promotes “Queens for a Day” (Credits: IGN)
IGN attended a recent Santa Monica screening of Queens for a Day, where Carter appeared with the film’s screenwriter, his wife Dori Carter. The room was an X-Files reunion: Darren Morgan, Glen Morgan, Annabeth Gish, Kristen Cloke and Jeff Cahn all turned out. After the screening, Gish led a Q&A in which Carter confirmed the two films are directly linked — his 2025 recut of I Want to Believe – Vrach Frankenshteyn dovetailed into preproduction on the new feature.
Chris Carter Queens for a Day: 32-Day Shoot in Vancouver
The director’s cut locked in December 2025. In early 2026, Carter relocated to his old X-Files stomping ground in Vancouver, British Columbia and shot Queens for a Day in a tight 32 days. He then edited with X-Files collaborator Cahn, alongside production designer Mark S. Freeborn, locking the final cut around October 9 — with the most timely political topics he was able to include. “The reason we wanted to do this was not just to tell a good tale, but to raise our fists,” Carter said.
I Want to Believe Director’s Cut: Carter Reclaims the Frankenstein Movie
Carter told IGN he’s relieved to finally revisit I Want to Believe, which the fandom initially received poorly — and he doesn’t blame himself for that version. “I just felt like I had made a movie and they made me change it,” he said of Fox’s cuts. “I wanted to make the movie a scary movie. It was a Frankenstein movie. No one ever appreciated, or got to appreciate it as Frankenstein. I actually got to put the title Frankenstein in it, so that was very important to me. We made sure it’s an X-Files movie that draws on the Frankenstein story and that’s what I tried to put back into it.”
From reclaiming a studio-compromised X-Files film to shooting a self-funded indie in 32 days, Carter’s 2026 is a portrait of a veteran creator done asking permission. Queens for a Day is in limited release now.
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Source: IGN — read the full story there.
