Maxine is set to return to the big screen to follow her dreams as an actress. X franchise filmmaker Ti West has confirmed that he will soon release the follow-up film to this year’s horror film X and its prequel Pearl, appropriately titled MaXXXine. The project was officially announced at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival in September by West and production company A24 after a showing of Pearl revealing a post-credit teaser for MaXXXine.

Ti West’s first project for the franchise, X, was released in February 2022. The film stars Mia Goth as Maxine, Jenna Ortega as Lorraine, Brittany Snow as Bobby Lynne, Scott Mescudi, also known as Kid Cudi, as Jackson Hole, Martin Henderson as Wayne Gilroy, and Owen Campbell as RJ. Before the film’s release, the only detail known about X was its plot:

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After it was released, it’s revealed that their elderly hosts despise the group and their intentions, viciously murdering them one by one. The elderly couple is Pearl and Howard, also played by Mia Goth and Stephen Ure, respectively.

“A group of actors sets out to make an adult film in rural Texas under the noses of their reclusive hosts, but when the elderly couple catches their young guests in the act, the cast finds themselves in a desperate fight for their lives.”

After X’s release and critical success, Ti West revealed in March 2022 that he had filmed the film’s prequel, Pearl, back-to-back with X. Pearl was released in September 2022 with Mia Goth reprising her role as the titular character. Goth and West wrote the prequel. The film serves as the origin story for the villain in X, “whose fervent aspirations to become a movie star lead her to commit violent acts on her family’s Texas homestead in 1918.”

Along with its predecessor, Pearl did well critically, with even Martin Scorsese praising it, which led to A24 green lighting the third and final film of the X franchise, MaXXXine. The third film is produced by A24, Jacob Jaffke, and Ti West and executive produced by Goth, with Ti West returning as writer and director. Other producers include Kevin Turen and Harrison Kreiss.

Here is everything we know so far about MaXXXine.

MaXXXine: The Plot

MaXXXine’s official synopsis reads:

In an interview with Bloody Disgusting, West gives a little insight into what fans can expect from MaXXXine, saying:

“The film follows Maxine, after the events of X, as the sole survivor who continues her journey towards fame setting out to make it as an actress in 1980’s Los Angeles.”

We still have a few questions about the third film, such as what happens to Maxine between X, set in 1979, and this film, set in 1985. Will it show her journey working towards being in Los Angeles while also healing from being the lone survivor of a massacre? What new horror will Maxine face in this new slasher? Will she become the villain to get to where she wants to be as an actress? Finally, at the end of X, the sheriff arrives at the farm and notices the video camera. Will that be addressed in MaXXXine?

“To round the whole thing out, MaXXXine as a sequel to X is fine. MaXXXine as part of a trilogy is infinitely more interesting, so that was part of the overall concept. I think what’ll be fun in MaXXXine, I’m not going to tell you what it’s about, but what’s fun is it is an evolution of the character, in the way that you met Pearl in X, but then you get to know a different side of her in Pearl. Yes, you have met Maxine. It is a continuation of Maxine, but she is at a very different point in her life. It’s going to be an interesting thing to catch up with her when we do, and to see Mia Goth in yet another way.”

MaXXXine: The Cast

     A24

So far, the only confirmed cast member of MaXXXine is Mia Goth, who reprises her role as Maxine from the first film. While we may not know much other cast information yet, we hope to see an ensemble cast such as what we got from X.

Knowing that it is set in Los Angeles, MaXXXine could see a variety of different characters. And we might see Maxine in different scenarios trying to make it as an actress in Hollywood, meeting new and different people she isn’t used to due to being from a small town.

Release Date

While there isn’t much information for MaXXXine except for the teaser trailer and the announcement for the third and final film of the X franchise, we hope we’ll get more details soon. Knowing that X and Pearl were released so close to each other, let’s hope we get MaXXXine sooner than we expect.