VANCOUVER — The screenwriting-producing team behind The X-Files: I Want to Believe thanked Vancouverites for their hospitality — and for not being too nosy — as the movie made its Canadian premiere last night.

‘This proves you can come home again; this is my second home,’ said creator/director/cowriter/producer Chris Carter, chatting on the red carpet at the Scotiabank Theatre.

Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan greeted Carter and producer/co-writer Frank Spotnitz with a framed proclamation declaring July 24, 2008 ‘X-Files Day.’ Canadian actors Marco Niccoli, Alex Diakun, Fagin Woodcock and Babz Chula, who all appear in the film, met a crowd of about 150 fans, all eager to learn the ‘truth.’

‘Vancouverites helped us keep the movie’s plot a secret by not pressuring us too much,’ said Carter. ‘The movie really is about Scully and Mulder’s relationship. It’s been more than 15 years, so coming back to them was sweet.’

So much secrecy surrounded the film’s plot that 20th Century Fox didn’t release the full title until recently. ‘We knew we wanted to call it I Want to Believe; we knew it would have resonance for fans of the series,’ said Spotnitz.

‘It was challenging because we kept the script secret even from the crew. From the very first day of filming, we had people taking photos and video all night. So we put out disinformation. We actually staged photographs, fake call sheets and fake script pages.’

Lead actors David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson missed the event after attending the movie’s Hollywood debut a day earlier.

Filmed in the province’s interior and the Lower Mainland, The X Files: I Want to Believe brings viewers up-to-date on FBI agents Dana Scully (Anderson) and Fox Mulder (Duchovny).

It arrives six years after the original series ended. The X-Files aired from 1993 to 2002, with a first feature film, Fight the Future, released in 1998. The series moved from Vancouver to Los Angeles that same year.

‘We came here to shoot a pilot for two weeks and stayed for five years,’ pointed out Carter.

Duchovny played Mulder for eight seasons, while Anderson stayed with the series for its entire nine-year run.

Critics have given the film mostly solid reviews. Will fans agree? The answer, like the truth, is out there.