‘X’ DIRECTOR TI WEST REVEALS SECRET PREQUEL FILM ALREADY FILMED AT SXSW

An adult film crew faces a nightmare of horror in Ti West’s new slasher, X. Image courtesy of A24.

Ti West’s new slasher film, X had its world premiere at SXSW last night, and, according to the LA Times, the director has confirmed that a secret prequel to the film has already been shot.

The prequel, titled, PEARL, was shot back to back with X in New Zealand during the pandemic, both of these films setting up the first potential horror franchise for A24. 

“My plan was to write it there and see if I can convince A24 that we should make two movies,” West told The Times. “Because we were in New Zealand where it was safe, and we had an amazing crew and we were building all this stuff,” he said. “Coming from TV I thought, ‘so much is amortized, it would be a shame not to...’ But it was a long shot.”

Stars Martin Henderson and Brittany Snow join director Ti West at the world premiere of X at the 2022 SXSW film festival. Image credit: Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times.

Opening nationwide this Friday, the 1979-set X stars Mia Goth (Suspiria, A Cure For Wellness), Owen Campbell (Super Dark Times), Brittany Snow (Pitch Perfect, Prom Night), Kid Kudi (A Man Named Scott), Martin Henderson (The Ring, The Strangers: Prey At Night) and Jenna Ortega (Scream, The Babysitter: Killer Queen) as a crew of adult filmmakers who arrive at a Texas farm to film what they hope will be their X-rated masterpiece. Their plans are thwarted however, when their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them in the act, and the cast soon find themselves in a desperate fight for their lives. X will be available only in theaters, with exclusive prequel footage from PEARL being shown in conjunction with the film.

West, along with Mia Goth (who shares a co-writing credit on the prequel), wrote PEARL during the pandemic, and according to The Times, West hoped that it could lead to a possible horror franchise for A24: “It was really just betting on, ‘Well, if we write a good script, why would they say no?’” said West. “We joked that the most A24 thing we could do with this movie is make two of them. For a studio that is consistently making challenging, progressively interesting, filmmaker-driven [projects], making two movies at the same time fell into the umbrella of what’s so cool about what they’re doing.” 

“As much as ‘X’ is this love letter to cinema, in a way so is ‘Pearl’ — it’s just a very different kind of cinema. Which also sets up an idea for the third movie, which has a different vibe altogether,” he said, teasing a full “X” trilogy that he may or may not already be cooking up. “I always felt like if you’re going to make a slasher movie, you have to make a bunch of sequels.”

Martin Henderson and Mia Goth in X, releasing in theaters this Friday. Image courtesy of A24.

The sneak peek of PEARL shown to audiences at SXSW offered only a taste of what’s to come, which West calls, “imagine the midcentury melodrama of Douglas Sirk meets the Technicolor of “Mary Poppins” in a “demented” Disney children’s movie.”

An exclusive sneak peek of the prequel can be seen alongside X, which will release only in theaters this Friday, March 18.

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