Today, the word “franchise” immediately conjures images of green lawyers, VFX battles, and spider-men of all shapes and sizes. But in the eighties, thanks to juggernauts like Halloween and Friday The 13th, the word meant something a little less super and a little more slasher. Remember that? Director Ti West certainly does, and he appears to be on a one-man mission to bring back all that good old shlock and awe.
West essentially conjured a franchise out of thin air this year with March’s excellent sexed-up slasher, X, and its follow-up, Pearl, premiering September 16. And now—before Pearl has even hit theaters—the bloodthirsty auteur has announced his third entry into the XCU (X Cinematic Universe): MaXXXine, which will serve as the trilogy’s conclusion.
A teaser for MaXXXine played immediately after Pearl’s premiere at TIFF last night, titillating viewers and fans almost as much as the film itself. The clip is delightfully vague; in a sweeping, grainy shot set to Animotion’s “Obsession,” the camera pans to reveal the name of the film, styled as the letters of the Hollywood sign. A note at the bottom reveals that we’re in “Los Angeles, 1985.”
In MaXXXine, Mia Goth will reprise the role of Maxine Minx, aspiring starlet and sole survivor of X’s fateful porn shoot. (Goth also plays her own nemesis, the elderly and murderous farm-keeper Pearl, in X, as well as her younger version in Pearl) The film has not yet been shot yet, but is on a “fast track” by A24, according to Deadline.
All anyone seems to want in this franchise is the be “a fucking star.” Will Maxine finally get her wish or will she be thrown to the metaphorical alligators of the film industry? Something tells us it won’t be all glitz and glamor for the fictional ingénue, but in real life, we’d risk a pitchfork stabbing or two for yet another chance to watch Mia Goth shine.