B Y M A R K N O L L I N G E R

Paranoia, doubt and fear are feelings X-Files creator-executive producer Chris Carter usually relishes stirring up. But not among the studio sultans bankrolling his first feature film. When executives heard about Carter's unprecedented plan to open the X-Files movie where the TV series' May cliff-hanger left off, it inspired dread all over the Fox lot, according to Carter. "The movie guys were like, 'What's going on here? We're not sure about the idea,'" he recalls. "And the TV guys were afraid we were going to destroy the series, that this was just some big plot to end it all. I had to convince them through the work that that wasn't the case."

The truth will finally be out there June 19, when The X-Files arrives on big screens everywhere. Among the questions it's expected to answer: Do aliens really exist? Who really runs the conspiracy? What happened to Mulder's sister? And perhaps most important, will the answers please the series' die-hard fans and still be comprehensible to those who don't know Scully and Mulder from Dharma and Greg? "Chris made a lot of effort to write the script to attract both X-philes and people who had never seen the show," says Anderson. Says Duchovny: "We don't take for granted that people know who Mulder and Scully are. Yet it's not so heavy-handed that fans of the show are gonna come away in those scenes going, 'I know, I know, I know that!'"

It better not be -- there's much more riding on the picture's success than the $60 million price tag. The future of the X-Files franchise, for instance, not to mention Duchovny and Anderson's budding film careers. "What's at stake are people's perceptions," Duchovny says. "Can a TV show be a movie? Can a TV actor be a movie star? We'll see what happens."

Just what happens in The X-Files has been the object of speculation since the day the film was announced. Thanks to the conspiracy of silence orchestrated by Carter and his cohorts, nailing down details of the movie's plot has proved only a tad less difficult than proving the existence of UFO's. "It's about what the show's about," Duchovny says of The X-Files. "It's shadowy. Even if I wanted to spoil it for everybody, it still wouldn't achieve total clarity for you. And I think that's one of the strengths of the show, that we deny that kind of clarity."

While pieces of the purported story have surfaced on the Internet, including a couple of anonymous reviews of the film by people claiming to have attended a test screening, Carter's devious announcement early on that he was spreading disinformation to throw people off the track implies that all such reportage has to be taken with at least a grain of salt. What is known, however, is that the bombing of an office building sets off a chain of events involving Neanderthal cavemen, an alien plot to colonize the earth and, of course, a government conspiracy involving the Syndicate and the Elders that takes Mulder and Scully from dusty North Texas to icy Antarctica in the process. Series regulars Mitch Pileggi (FBI assistant director Skinner), William B. Davis (the Cigarette Smoking Man), John Neville (the Well-Manicured Man) and the trio of Bruce Harwood, Dean Haglund and Tom Braidwood (the Lone Gunmen) are along for the ride, with veteran character actors Martin Landau (Ed Wood) and Armin Mueller-Stahl (Shine) in supporting roles.

"The movie reaffirms Mulder's impenetrable sense of wonder," says X-Files director Rob Bowman, who's also helmed 25 episodes of the series. "It takes him through discoveries and adventures that confirm his darkest beliefs." Well, not all of them are that dark. One of those discoveries apparently involves a certain redheaded government employee. "Mulder is forced to tell Scully what she means to him," Duchovny reveals. "And that can lead to personal involvement. There's definitely some physical contact." A kiss? "Some kind of screen kiss," he says.

(When asked about Duchovny's comment, Anderson seems stunned. "David said there was a screen kiss?" She pauses. "There's an interesting screen kiss," she continues. "But it's questionable whether it's Mulder or Scully, or either of them with anybody else." Gee, thanks for clearing that up.)

Whatever the truth turns out to be, everyone involved promises that "The X-Files" is more than just a two-hour episode of the series. "The thing we cannot do in the series is have giant set-pieces containing action sequences or spooky sequences," Bowman explains. "There's just not the time or money. In the movie, we've got several." Anderson agrees. "The whole scope of it is so much bigger," she says. Just how big didn't hit home until recently, when she saw parts of the film for the first time while re-recording dialogue. "I actually got distracted from doing my lines," Anderson says, "Because I was screaming, 'Oh my God! That shot!'"

And while the movie is rated PG-13, there is a bit more adult content than in the series. "One of the advantages of doing a film is that the richness of the English language in its cursing forms is open to you," Duchovny explains. "So Mulder and Scully are a lot more gutter-mouth. They're still FBI agents, so it's not like The Jerry Springer Show. But you hear more than dammit, which is as far as we go on TV."

There's more to see, too. In one sequence, Anderson says, "clear, mucky goo" appears to be all she's wearing. "I wasn't completely naked when we were shooting it," she confesses. "But it will look like I'm naked on film." For his part, Duchovny confirms that the movie contains a shot of his bare behind. However, it doesn't relate to any of the film's big secrets, he quips, "unless the influence of a moon can be seen as an extraterrestrial phenomenon."

No matter how the movie ultimately addresses the long-standing questions at the heart of the series, Mulder and Scully will undoubtedly find new reasons to carry on when The X-Files resumes production this summer. The success -- or failure -- of the film is likely to affect the real folks behind the TV series as well. "If we come back in July with a hit movie behind us, certainly people are going to be hell-bent not to have any drop-off because we're going to think the whole world is watching," Duchovny says. "If the movie fails, it could be similar pressure in that we've got to show [people] we haven't lost it." He pauses and laughs. "Or we could all give up and say it was a good run. I don't know."

That's not the only uncertainty facing The X-Files. Carter, who has long indicated that he planned to leave the series after season five, is negotiating with the studio to stay but has yet to sign a new contract. And while Duchovny is reportedly committed for two more years and Anderson for three, burn-out is a real possibility as they head into their sixth season. "It's hard to have a lot of enthusiasm," Duchovny admits. "I have a certain amount of loyalty to the show. But at a certain point doing a TV show of this magnitude is just too tough." Adds Anderson: "I'm hoping that it doesn't go [another three years]. I'm all for it if it does. I just hope that they're able to stop it when it has run its course and not try to squeeze out any juice that's not tasteful any more."

A more immediate question is the potential impact of The X-Files' much-publicized relocation from misty Vancouver to sunny Los Angeles. "I think it will be good for everybody involved," Anderson says. Especially Duchovny, who began agitating for the change of scenery following his marriage to actress Téa Leoni just over a year ago. "I'm looking forward to living with Téa," says the actor, who bought a house with Leoni north of Malibu that he has yet to spend much time in. "Even if I'm working longer hours, I get to come home to my wife rather than a phone."

While it wasn't his idea, Carter says he's excited by the visual and thematic possibilities the move offers. "We may not have the rain and the condensation coming out of people's mouths," he says. "But we're going to shoot at night, and we're going to make it creepy. We may have to shoot around a few palm trees, but I feel confident we'll be able to tell some really good stories here. The show is going to be the same creepy show."

Mark Nollinger is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer.