Chris Carter May Leave X-Files

Chris Carter, whose clever, imaginative mind gave rise to “The X-Files,” has told TV critics that next season will probably be his last with the show. Carter’s “X-Files” contract with Fox is for five years of TV episodes.

Carter said he has just begun working on a script for a feature-length “X-Files” film, which will air in 1998 as a follow-up to the fifth season’s cliffhanger ending.

This doesn’t mean the end of “The X-Files” on TV. Carter said the contracts of series stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson extend beyond next season. And it’s possible Carter could stay with the show. One scenario, he joked, would be if “they start rolling out that Seinfeld money,” a reference to reports Jerry Seinfeld will be making $1 million an episode on his hit show, “Seinfeld.”