Production recently wrapped on the final part of Ti West's X trilogy, MaXXXine, and A24 finally announced an official release date (via Bloody Disgusting).
MaXXXine's no-doubt bloody comeback is set for July 5. Mia Goth will reprise her role as the titular adult film star alongside singer-turned-actress Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, aka Halsey.
In the first movie, Goth's Maxine turned out to be the sole survivor of a crazed old woman's (also played by Goth) murderous rampage, and played a younger version of that character in recent prequel film, Pearl. Specific plot details for MaXXXine remain under wraps, but it's not expected to be a full-on slasher movie like X - though it will have horror elements.
Goth spoke about returning as the character in a recent interview with Variety.
"It’s the best script of the three by far. It’s going be the best movie of the three. We’re all so tight now. This is going to be our third movie we’re working on together and everyone’s coming back together, so it’s bringing the band all back together again. We just have a shorthand with each other. We know how everybody works and we’re all so excited. It’s the biggest story of the three with the highest stakes and Maxine has gone through so much at this point. So when we find her in this new world, she’s just a force to be reckoned with and she goes through some pretty wild adventures."
Goth was in the news for a more controversial reason earlier this year when it came to light that she was being sued by a background actor she worked with on the movie, who has accused her of deliberately kicking him in the head while filming a scene... and then mocking him about it afterwards!
In the lawsuit, James Hunter states that he was hired for three days of work to play the role of “Dead Parishioner.” On the first night of shooting, he lay on the ground for several hours covered in fake blood, “enduring ants and mosquitoes.”
In the scene in question, Goth was supposed to run past him without making contact, but after she "almost stepped on him" during the fourth take, Hunter is said to have complained to the second assistant director. On the next take, the suit alleges that Goth deliberately kicked him in the head with her boot, then followed him into the bathroom and “taunted, mocked and belittled” him, daring him to do anything about it.
“MaXXXine reverses the franchise’s trajectory through time to pick up with Maxine after the violent events of X, as the sole survivor continues her journey towards fame, setting out to make it as an actress in 1980s Los Angeles.”
MaXXXine also stars Elizabeth Debicki, Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito, and Kevin Bacon.