finished on March 11, 2008. The film was released in the United States on July 25, 2008. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Carter said that if I Want to Believe proved successful, he would propose a third movie that would return to the television series' mythology and focus on the alien invasion foretold within the series, due to occur in December 2012. The film grossed $4 million on its opening day in the United States. It opened fourth on the U.S. weekend box office chart, with a gross of $10.2 million. By the end of its theatrical run, it had grossed $20,982,478 domestically and an additional $47,373,805 internationally, for a total worldwide gross of $68,369,434. Among 2008 domestic releases, it finished in 114th place. The film's stars both claimed that the timing of the movie's release, a week after the highly popular Batman film The Dark Knight, negatively affected its success. The film received mixed to negative reviews. Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 reviews from mainstream film critics, reported "mixed or average" reviews, with an average score of 47 based on 33 reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 32% of 160 listed film critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 4.9 out of 10. The website wrote of the critics' consensus, stating, "The chemistry between leads David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson do live [sic] up to The X-Files televised legacy, but the roving plot and droning routines make it hard to identify just what we're meant to believe in." Revival In several interviews around the release, Carter said that if the X-Files: I Want to Believe film proved successful at the box office, a third installment would be made going back to the TV series' mythology, focusing specifically on the alien invasion and colonization of Earth foretold in the ninth-season finale, due to occur on December 22, 2012. In an October 2009 interview, David Duchovny likewise said he wanted to do a 2012 X-Files movie, but did not know if he would get the chance. Anderson stated in August 2012 that a third X-Files film is "looking pretty good". As of July 2013, Fox had not approved the movie, although Carter, Spotnitz, Duchovny and Anderson expressed interest. At the New York Comic Con held October 1013, 2013, Duchovny and Anderson reaffirmed that they and Carter were interested in making a third film,