Fans of the X horror series have nothing to complain about. After the wild ride that was X and the unconventional but fun Pearl, we can already start getting hyped up for MaXXXine, the third entry in the franchise. Having lead star Mia Goth in that world for the third time was already good enough, but today the cast for the threequel was announced and all of a sudden we got eight names to be excited about. The story will center around the title character after the deadly events of the first movie.

Elizabeth Debicki (Tenet), Moses Sumney (Creed), Michelle Monaghan (Mission: Impossible – Fallout), Bobby Cannavale (The Watcher), Lilly Collins (Emily in Paris), Halsey (Sing 2), Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), and Kevin Bacon (City on a Hill) are all joining Goth in the horror story, which immediately makes the movie a must-watch, and a somewhat rare occurrence of a horror film featuring an all-star cast.

General Character Descriptions May Suggest Details of MaXXXine's Story

Details of which character the actors will set out to play are still kept under wraps, but some general descriptions may already point to the kind of story we’ll see. Debicki will reportedly play a movie director and Esposito an agent for adult films, which suggest we could have a setting similar to 2022’s X. With Monaghan, Cannavale, and Bacon playing detectives, this suggests that murder investigation will play a bigger part this time around. If the investigation ties in directly with the first movie or we'll see a brand-new bloodbath, that remains to be discovered.

Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian
Image via Disney

RELATED: Mia Goth Deserved an Oscar Nomination for Her Work in 'Pearl'

Once again, Ti West writes and directs the story, which at this point means the franchise is in very good hands. And the public is responding pretty well: The first two movies cost a mere $2 million and grossed over $22 million worldwide. It may not seem like much, but these numbers suggest the franchise is popular enough to keep going, and that a moderate return at the box office doesn't put too much pressure on A24, which in turn might still grant West’s creative control over the material.

The X film series was a surprise franchise thrown at us in 2022. After the good reception of X, West revealed that Pearl had been filmed in secret alongside the production of X, and also announced that MaXXXine was in the works. If the slasher franchise follows the footsteps of great horror film series with several sequels, there’s a chance that MaXXXine isn’t the last we see of that world.

MaXXXine starts filming this month in Los Angeles. Stick with Collider to know details as soon as they get announced. You can watch our interview with Ti West about X and Pearl below: