Sunday, April 05, 2015

Under the Fan Now

By now, if you're a David Lynch or Twin Peaks fan of any kind, you've probably heard the news that Lynch has announced he's pulling out of the Twin Peaks relaunch. His statement, via Facebook:

Dear Facebook Friends, Showtime did not pull the plug on Twin Peaks. After 1 year and 4 months of negotiations, I left because not enough money was offered to do the script the way I felt it needed to be done. This weekend I started to call actors to let them know I would not be directing. Twin Peaks may still be very much alive at Showtime. I love the world of Twin Peaks and wish things could have worked out differently.

Which sounds rather final. Showtime released a statement expressing surprise and hinting that they still hope to talk Lynch into coming back on board. I would hope people close to Lynch are encouraging him to reconsider and I'd hope the petitions and general Internet outcry would have some sway on him. Maybe someone should tell him about Kickstarter and what it did for Veronica Mars. My instinct, though, is this isn't about money so much as it is about Lynch getting cold feet.

Directing nine episodes would essentially be like directing a nine hour movie. Lynch has never done anything like that in his career and as he is a very "of the moment" artist I wonder if he doubts he could hold onto a dream that long. And the idea of revisiting an old project may have been daunting enough. Maybe he saw the looming shadow of stagnation that Steven Spielberg didn't see when he decided to make Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

In any case, I'm disappointed and do hope Lynch changes his mind. If Showtime does go ahead without Lynch on board, I have no interest in seeing the product. I think everyone knows if that happens it'll just be the bad part of season two all over again.

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