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When X, the first movie in what’s become director Ti West’s epic horror trilogy, premiered, there was no way to tell how deep we’d sink into this bizarre and terrifying world. Now, with MaXXXine, the third installment due out Friday, star Mia Goth is closing out her starring roles in the films navigating a blood-soaked Hollywood.
In the movie, Maxine Minx (Goth), who we first met in X, has finally made it to Hollywood to become a star. Unfortunately for her, this is a horror movie. So, naturally, there is a serial killer (the Night Stalker) on the loose and bodies start to hit the floor.
The setting makes for some seriously picturesque and unique moments as terror unfolds not just across 1985 Los Angeles, but the backlot of Universal Studios, as well. After all, why would Maxine go to Hollywood, if not to end up on a movie set?
“I mean, that was a big part of the idea to have the third movie take place in Hollywood and have her make it to a movie backlot,” West told GameSpot, while himself sitting with the movie’s cast on the Universal backlot, in front of the iconic Psycho house. “You know, there’s something very strange about seeing [a studio backlot], if you’ve never seen it before. You’re like, ‘Oh, wow, it looks so real.’ And then the closer you get, the more you start to realize it’s not so real. How people photograph it is very important. And that’s something that people come here as tourists to experience.”
Getting to share that experience is something West has had in mind for a long time.
“As someone who’s a film fan and seen those movies, I was like, ‘Oh, it’s very rare, you get to see a set be a set,” he explained. “And then to stage action sequences in that and let it be what it is, I always had that idea in my head. And so the idea of running down a western street, ducking in a door, running down a hallway, and popping out in New York–that’s always an idea I had. And then this movie weirdly showed up to be able to actualize that. And so it’s very surreal to be here and do it.”
MaXXXine isn’t the only movie that’s utilized the Universal Studios backlot as a backlot, rather than an off-site location. You’ll also recognize the western area of the lot–officially known as Six Points Texas–from Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as where Leonardo DiCaprio’s Rick Dalton filmed his TV appearances. A number of movies have filmed the backlot as itself over the years, including Pee-wee’s Big Adventure and Big Fat Liar.
MaXXXine is in theaters Friday, July 5.
