There probably won't be another movie in Ti West's X trilogy and here's why

Despite previous statements to the contrary, it's now looking like Ti West is ready to close the book on the X trilogy for good, though he says he would love to keep working with actress Mia Goth, who has played multiple roles throughout the three movies X, Pearl, and MaXXXine.

West's change of heart was revealed during a Reddit AMA from August. Someone asked the director if he would be doing another movie in the trilogy and if he wanted to keep working with Goth.

His response reads, "would love to keep working with mia. x trilogy [probably] done though. happy with where we left it."

In February of this year, West told the YouTube channel What's Under the Bed, per Bloody Disgusting, that he has "one weird idea" that could work for a fourth movie. At the time, he also said he wanted to wait and see how people responded to MaXXXine, which hadn't yet been released.

A few months later, West told Entertainment Weekly that MaXXXine would likely mark "the end of the Maxine era," but again mentioned the "one idea" he has that "might be" next and "plays into" the three preceding films. However, he also said he wanted to wrap up MaXXXine and take a break from the series.

" I'll say that, if there's more to be done in this 'X' franchise, it's certainly not what people are expecting it to be. It's not just picking up again a few years later and whatever. It's different in the way that 'Pearl' was an unexpected departure. It's another unexpected departure."

What changed?

While West never 100% confirmed a fourth movie in the franchise, his various comments suggest he did have an idea he wanted to toy with that would have continued the storyline. But the director also made it clear that whatever this mysterious idea is, it would be a "departure" from what we've already seen and, therefore, a potentially alienating premise.

Even though MaXXXine was more polarizing than X or Pearl, it still primarily received positive reviews and became the highest-grossing film of the trilogy, so I doubt it's the film's success that made West change his tune. Perhaps after finishing MaXXXine he wants to genuinely pause and recalibrate, to figure out what's next for him on his creative journey. It's also possible that the nebulous idea he had ended up not coming to fruition, or maybe he no longer feels inspired by it, especially since he says he's "happy" where they left things at the end of MaXXXine. Why mess with a good thing?

I don't think the franchise needs another movie, and I agree with West that the third film left the story and Maxine in a good place. That said, I also hope that he and Goth work together again on a future project, and I would love it if he shared his idea for the fourth movie one day, even if it never pans out.

MaXXXine is now streaming on Max.