"MaXXXine"

It's 1985 again in Hollywood for "MaXXXine" (A24, 2024). Ti West's horror film follows adult film performer Mia Goth after she survives a bloody incident and tries to become a real Hollywood star. Also featured are Michelle Monaghan, Giancarlo Esposito, Elizabeth Debicki, Kevin Bacon, Halsey, Lily Collins and Bobby Canavale. The cinematography was by Eliot Rockett. In addition to a big shoot on several sections of Hollywood Blvd. we get a fine tour of the back lot at Universal including a visit to the "Psycho" house and motel. 

The Vine Theatre and the Cave / Déjà Vu during the shoot:

 

 

Ready for action on April 20, 2023. We're on the north side of Hollywood Blvd. just west of Vine St. Photo: Bill Counter 

 

The Vine is an 1940 S. Charles Lee conversion of what had been a restaurant at 6321 Hollywood Blvd. To the right at 6315 is the building that was once Sardi's Restaurant and after several other names morphed into the Cave Adult Theatre. It's now Déjà Vu Showgirls. For the film it was dressed as "Hollywood Show World." See the pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site about the Vine Theatre and the Cave for a history of these venues.  

 

The former Cave Theatre. Photo: Bill Counter - April 20, 2023

 

 

 

Another look at the Vine. Photo: Bill Counter - April 20, 2023 

 

 

 

Mia and others at the boxoffice. The signage on the boxoffice and that "Vine" above the poster for "St. Elmo's Fire" were added by the production. This image and the two below come from 'extras' on the film's DVD.

 

 

Ti, Mia and Halsey with Hollywood Show World in the background.

 

 

Catching up on her reading.   

The Vine Theatre and the Cave in the film: 

 

Signage on the east side of the marquee of Hollywood Show World, aka the Cave Adult Theatre.

 

The entrance to Hollywood Show World. Mia's character works there. 

We go inside but then it's a set.

 

 

 

A look west with "St. Elmo's Fire" is on the marquee of of the Vine Theatre. The street is populated like it's 1985, Hare Krishnas and all. 

 

 

Mia and Halsey walking west after work with Hollywood Show World behind them. It's from a shot by Justin Lubin from A24 that appeared with Katie Walsh's review of the film in the L.A. Times. Halsey's character says she's afraid to walk home alone. Mia's not. But Halsey makes the fatal mistake of going to a big party with supposedly famous people up in the hills. 

The Warner / Hollywood Pacific Theatre during the shoot: 

Vehicles ready for action in front of the theatre, 6433 Hollywood Blvd. Thanks to Alison Martino for sharing this in an April 18, 2023 Vintage Los Angeles Facebook post. It's one of seven photos in the post taken by Sean Hathwell. In the many comments to the post see additional shots he took of posters, newspaper racks, and storefronts dressed for the film.  

Glen Norman notes: "The street light mast-arms and luminaires are from 2005. But they look 'old,' so maybe no one will quibble."

 

Glen offers this photo and adds: "Hollywood Boulevard still had these in the mid 1980s. This one is being removed on August 12, 2005."

 

 

 

Getting ready for the shot in front of Mia's building. She lives right across the street from the theatre. The detectives played by Michelle Monaghan and Bobby Canavale pay her a visit. This image and the three below come from 'extras' on the film's DVD.

 

Mia pulling in. Michelle and Bobby hope to elicit her help after two ladies she works with at Hollywood Show World are killed. "I don't talk to the police," she tells them.

Getting ready for a night shot.

 

 

 

Mia and Ti West.

 

See the pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site about the Warner Hollywood. It opened in 1928, got renamed the Hollywood Pacific in 1968 and triplexed in 1978. It's been boarded up since 2012. 

 

The Warner / Hollywood Pacific in the film: 

A look west as Mia drives home. On the front of the marquee: "Silent Film Series - Palace Follies." The east side was advertising "Jean-Luc Godard's Hail Mary - One Night Only." 

Mia pulling into a space in front of her building. Michelle Monaghan and Bobby Canavale are waiting to talk to her. 

Grauman's Chinese during the shoot: 

 

After Mia gets her big break we get a premiere of her new film "The Puritan II" at the Chinese. In the 1980s it was called Mann's Chinese. This image and the five below come from 'extras' on the film's DVD.

 

 

Setting up a tripod.

 

 

The location manager advising crew members to keep heavy equipment on the sidewalk, not on the footprint slabs in the forecourt. Or, in the worst case, put down plywood first.

 

 

Mia's limo. 

 

 

Across the street. 

Mia on the red carpet.

See the Grauman's Chinese pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of this 1927 vintage movie palace and hundreds of photos. It's located at 6925 Hollywood Blvd., just west of Highland Ave. 

 

Grauman's Chinese in the film:

 

 

The night of the premiere of "Puritan II." Of course in the 1980s there would have been a boxoffice out at the street as well as the Mann Chinese II and III on the right, not a parking lot. 

Arriving on the red carpet. Note that the "TCL" part of the sign above the entrance doors was blacked out.

 

 

Mia's character greets her adoring fans. 

 

 

Making her way to the entrance. Sorry, we don't go inside. Image: A24 via IMDb.  

On IMDb: "MaXXXine"  

See Amy Nicholson's July 2, 2024 L.A. Times story "'MaXXXine' is Ti West’s Hollywood horror story. The real-life locations are even scarier."

 

"MaXXXine" on the gate at the Hollywood Theatre, 6764 Hollywood Blvd. The tenant, the Guiness World Records Museum, had closed the place for a renovation. Photo: Bill Counter - July 4, 2024

 

 

'MaXXXine" at the Alamo Drafthouse. Photo: Bill Counter - July 5, 2024