"We've had lots of paparazzi," said writer-director Chris Carter. "In Langley a couple of days ago a black SUV pulled up on the side of the road and there was a long lens pointed at us."

The next day, pictures of stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, locked in a full-on kiss as FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, appeared on Internet fansites alongside breathless speculation about the characters' are-they-or-aren't-they romance.

"We staged that," Duchovny told reporters at the Sutton Place Hotel, where media were informed Anderson would not attend due to illness.

"It's been a two-way street," says Carter of the prying eyes. "To tell you the truth, I would like to make the movie secretly and put it out there on July 25, have everybody get a gift they could open."

Duchovny finished work late the night before and was catching a plane to Los Angeles yesterday. The rest of the crew were to finish by week's end. The movie is a stand-alone story unconnected to the series' ongoing conspiracy thread, but beyond that they're not saying much.

"We're not doing an exercise in nostalgia to appeal to the fans of the show," said co-writer and producer Frank Spotnitz. "We saw this as an opportunity to introduce the characters to people who may have been too young . . . It has a reason for being, even if there'd never been a television show before."

Mr. Duchovny finished shooting the X-Files film Wednesday morning and stopped by the news conference on his way to the airport to return home. Co-star Gillian Anderson, who was supposed to be there, cancelled due to illness.

Producers have been trying to keep details of the second X-Files film (title TBA) hush-hush, using a false name for the production in an attempt to fool the paparazzi (it didn't always work) and referring to Agent Fox Mulder in the script and call sheets as “Larry” – the name of a producer's dog.

Still, some minor plot points were revealed Wednesday: the film will not centre around the alien conspiracy that the series (and the first movie) were focused on and instead will be more of a stand-alone story. The characters will be six years on from when the series ended (as in reality). And Pemberton, B.C., the city north of Whistler where the film shot for three weeks, will stand in for a city in the north-eastern U.S.

When asked about photos of the shoot circulating online that show Mulder and Scully kissing, Mr. Duchovny said the writers have always described the film – and the whole series – as a love story, whether chaste or sexual. “That's half the show.”

X-Files creator Chris Carter and screenplay co-writer Frank Spotnitz said they owe a lot to Vancouver - to the crews who grew up with the show, and to the city's physical beauty.

“Vancouver gave the show its original look, which I would call moody,” said Mr. Carter, who still maintains a home here. “I think that was one of the secrets to our success - not so secret, as it turns out.”