10 Movies That Were Shot In Secret

Cult horror filmmaker Ti West shocked the world when, after his slasher throwback X premiered at SXSW, he revealed that he'd also made a secret prequel.

West shot X at a high point of the pandemic in New Zealand, and because of the country's highly effective COVID strategy, it became a haven for filmmakers to shoot projects safely.

West started writing a prequel to X with star Mia Goth while shooting the film, prompting him to ask A24 if they'd actually greenlight production on the prequel in earnest, which they did.

And so, West began shooting Pearl almost immediately after X wrapped, recycling many of the same sets and using the crew from Avatar: The Way of Water, who were on a break from shooting James Cameron's epic sequel.

As a result, Pearl was in the can for almost an entire year before West even announced it, and it went on to receive the strongest reviews of what would become a trilogy of horror films, concluding with the recent MaXXXine.