Out of the realm of television from the 1990s, Chris Carter‘s Millennium has to be my favorite. An offshoot from The X-Files, the show focused on Frank Black – played by Lance Henriksen – working for a group known only as the Millennium Group, who consults the FBI and local law enforcement on odd crimes and serial killers. I’ve often made the case for the possibility of a Millennium movie, continuing from where the show left off – and now Henriksen echoes those sentiments of the cult following of the series.
Through press appearances for the upcoming animated series of TRON: Uprising, Henriksen let the cat out of the bag to Coming Soon about his hopes for a Millennium film.
“I think it’s going to happen. I really do… There’s a big push on right now and there’s a lot of crazy people involved in it. They’ve written a book with interviews with everybody that was on the show including Frank Spotnitz and me… It’s crazy that you wouldn’t give it a shot. It doesn’t have to be a $30 million movie either. There are a lot of fans out there in 65 countries. I can’t go into any other country without them wondering when the movie is going to be made.”
The television show went through several forms of evolution during its airing, with the first season being more of a creepy Se7en-style atmosphere. The second season began delving into the more disturbing aspects of the Millennium Group, inserting conspiracy and prophecy on top of the serial killer plotlines. The third season follows Black attempting to piece his life together after leaving the Millennium Group, only to continue to be shadowed by members of the society.
After the conclusion of the series, Henriksen made an appearance on an episode of The X-Files, titled “Millennium”, that would wrap up loose ends associated with the countdown to the new millennium. Coupled with the serial killing and prophecy-based conspiracies, Frank Black has to work with Mulder and Scully to stop an extreme sub-group that has fragmented from the main Millennium Group.
It’s been 13 years since that episode, but Lance Henriksen judges that the time gap would actually be more help than hindrance to the development of a Millennium film.
“Ever since 9/11, the world has changed so radically. If Millennium was made today with those characters, it would be a far more interesting show than the limited palette they had with serial killers. I love the idea of a non-judgmental character like Frank Black was… He wanted to know why and how all these things happened, but he knew that judging someone for what they’ve done would just get in the way of finding out things.”
Henriksen went on to elucidate how he would like to see some terrorist-based plot for such a film in which his character would be placed in another country, and have to overcome several cultural barriers to profile his targets and win the day. There is promise with the idea, though of course, there’s no official confirmation on whether a Millennium film will ever get made – but with the fans continuing to call for it, and now Henriksen very publicly make some noise about the idea, it is certainly possible that Chris Carter would sit up and pay attention.
So, Geeks Of Doom readers – what do you think? Is it time to bring back Frank Black and bring Millennium into the world of film? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press
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