The company was founded when Carter began his series The X-Files in 1993. With the success of The X-Files continuously growing, in 1996 the company embarked on a new series - Millennium. The series lasted for three seasons. In 1998, they released a film simply titled The X-Files, which grossed $189,198,313. In 1999, as Millennium was cancelled,[2] a third series was put into production, Harsh Realm. Despite critical praise, it was canceled after only nine episodes. In 2001 they decided to create a direct spin-off from The X-Files and the result was The Lone Gunmen.[3] This was canceled after one season.