David Lynch Walks Out on Twin Peaks Revival

When the third season of Twin Peaks was announced last October, the internet exploded with excitement. I’ve never been a fan of series creator David Lynch, but I admire his approach to his surrealist storytelling. With the TV medium as a whole ushering in a heightened level of quality in terms of both storytelling and cinematography, having a show like Twin Peaks (which itself helped revolutionize serial storytelling in the early 90s) return would further establish the current golden era of TV.

With that said, Lynch pulled a patented Lynch-esque twist over the weekend by publicly quitting on the project mid-production. Through a series of tweets, the enigmatic writer explained the reasons behind his departure:

Dear Twitter 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.

The original plan for the third season involved Lynch and series co-writer/creator Mark Frost writing the scripts with Lynch at the helm directing the full nine-episode season. However, with his departure, the show’s future is up in the air. As Lynch mentioned in his tweets, the show still could carry on with Frost and the cast on board, but losing such a large entity as Lynch would dampen expectations and excitement for the show.

Furthermore, it’s unfortunate that the dissolving of the relationship is due to money. Granted, it’s understandable that Lynch would want a certain budget allotted to accomplish his vision in full, but budgetary restrictions are nothing new, especially in Hollywood. Then again, with some like Lynch, anything less than full commitment would probably garner a weaker product. We’ll see how this story develops over the coming weeks.

[via /Film]