The origins of "Pearl" as a film are a lot less complicated than the origins of Pearl the character. In fact, the idea of a prequel film to Ti West's "X" started out as a joke, according to a clip from the bonus features on the "Pearl" Blu-ray. Mia Goth explained how "Pearl" came to be, "When I first signed on to 'X,' Ti and I were talking a lot about Maxine and Pearl and the connection between those two women. Within those conversations, this idea just started to form — somewhat as a joke at first; I guess because we never really believed that this could happen."
While the idea of doing a Pearl prequel started out as a joke, it also was a prep exercise to help the filmmakers and actors understand the character's backstory. Goth added, "Over time, that morphed into a script." Director West also said, "It just sort of bloomed into something ... far more three-dimensional."
The idea bloomed indeed as Goth and West kicked out a script for "Pearl" to film back to back with "X." The response to "X" and the announcement of "Pearl" also led the team to begin work on the upcoming "MaxXxine," which has a brilliant teaser spot but has not been shot yet. While "Pearl" takes place in the 1910s and "X" takes place in the 1970s, "MaxXxine" will put Mia Goth's Maxine character into the wild world of the 1980s. "MaxXxine" gave fans an opportunity to be a part of the horror trilogy before cameras began to roll on the third film.
