West, however, refused to confirm or deny when he spoke toDeadlinebeforeMaXXXines unveiling at theKarlovy VaryInternational Film Festival.
DEADLINE: Was it always your intention for this film series to be a trilogy?
At what point did you realize that there was going to be a third part to it?
Ti West at the Karlovy Vary Film FestivalKVIFF
TI WEST:It was always supposed to just be one movie calledX.
I wrote a movie calledXthat I sent toA24.
So, I was like, Why dont we stay in New Zealand and maketwomovies?
Mia Goth and Halsey in ‘MaXXXine’. Courtesy of A24.A24
But [afterX] there werent very many characters left alive, so there wasnt much of a story.
No one else in the worlds making movies and you could have two.
She could go to Hollywood.
I jokingly called the moviesX,XX, andXXX, after the American ratings system.
But we didnt end up calling the sequelXX, we called itPearl.
It turned out that peopledidlike them.
DEADLINE: You must have had some ideas percolating.
How did you whittle down what you wanted to say in the third iteration?
By making them standalone movies, I didnt want to just repeat the same beats over and over again.
And that era was a more excessive era, which offered a different way into the story.
That, for me, made me excited to attempt to find a different way into the same thematics.
DEADLINE: Youre obviously too young to remember the 80s in such forensic detail.
What informed your knowledge of the real-life things that you put into the movie?
WEST:Well, Id say my teenage years were certainly in the 90s.
I think some of my formative years came a little earlier than normal.
But I remember all my babysitters were into heavy metal music and stuff.
I remember there being a moral outcry about what their hair looked like and what their clothes looked like.
DEADLINE: And the so-called Satanic Panic?
WEST:My parents worried about that.
Theyd say, You could be kidnapped and taken by a satanic cult!
I was only seven or eight years old!
But things like that that permeate you.
Things like that were thematically related to these three movies about cinema.
Horror movies were just seen as one step above that.
It was a very limiting time.
I think shes hit the ceiling, as far as adult movies go.
The next thing is to transition into straight cinema.
So, the stigma of being in adult movies is something she has to carry into the straight pictures.
DEADLINE: How much does Mia put into this character?
WEST:I dont know.
Youd have to ask her about her experiences.
But I think, as far as what she brings to it, she brings a tremendous amount.
At this point, she knows the character very well.
She knows the kinds of choices the characters made.
But once were on set, I dont really have to tell her much about who the character is.
She knows that as much, if not more, than I do.
Im just trying to wrangle her into the movie that Im making.
DEADLINE: Was the Bette Davis quote something that you had in mind all along?
I wonder how that quote came to you, and why you applied it.
WEST:Well, I think that being a star is such a hard thing to articulate or define.
I dont know what Bette Davis meant, but I do have a sense of what she meant.
I just think the quote itself has an impact.
It speaks to the strangeness of being a star.
DEADLINE: Am I right in thinking you got the run of the Universal lot for this movie?
WEST:Yes, thats true.
DEADLINE: So, what did you take from that?
Obviously, you had the whole studio to play with.
What did you choose to run with, and what were you looking for in that location?
I always liked the idea of going from New York into the Old West and exposing that facade.
InX, they have a conversation aboutPsycho.
It was very surreal, to be honest.
It was fun being on the lot, but to actually photograph thePsychohouse was a weird thing to do.
DEADLINE: Is this the end of Maxine Mink, or will she return?
Do you think theres more scope for her adventures?
WEST:I dont know.
Theres always a chance.
But for almost five years Ive been doing this pretty much non-stop.
Like, all day, every day, because I write, direct, edit, produce everything.
So, Im very happy with the three movies.
But after working on it non-stop for so long…
I dont know, well see.
Part of that is just that what Ididntwant to do is repeat myself from the other movies.
I wanted to venture to do something that felt like it hadnt been seen before.
If they have a passionate reason toXthe most, great.
If they have a passionate reason to likePearlthe most, great.
If they loveMaXXXine, Im happy.
If its all three, even better.
I think you’re free to wear out your welcome pretty easily.
WEST:I do have a plan, but… You never know.
If all things work out, then, yes, I have a plan for another movie.
But things rarely ever work out.
It depends on how it goes.
Im hoping it will be sooner rather than later, but well see.
DEADLINE: Youre going to stick with genre for the time being, I guess?
If its the one Im thinking of, its very different from these movies.
But its not a romcom.
