Ti West was so eager to get back to directing movies that, a few weeks before shooting his new one, he wrote another one in quarantine and shot it in secret. That was “Pearl,” the prequel to “X,” which A24 releases this week. The prequel is titled Pearl and takes place in 1918. Shot in secret on location in New Zealand; it is currently in post-production. The film is produced by A24, Jacob Jaffke, Harrison Kreiss, and Kevin Turen and executive produced by Goth, Dennis Cummings, Sam Levinson, Ashley Levinson, Karina Manashil, Scott Mescudi, and Peter Phok. There will be prequel footage attached to showings of X when it opens this Friday only in theaters. West has already finished editing “Pearl” and plans to head to Nashville after SXSW to record the orchestral score with a targeted end date of May. Footage from the prequel that screened at SXSW will be included with the theatrical release. The project marks the first franchise effort for A24, which recently closed a $225 million equity investment to fund its strategic growth plan.
