Diane, 6 PM, 27 May. David Lynch has announced a new project via a cryptic video message on the social media platform X.
Wearing his trademark Wayfarer shades despite being in a very dark room, the 78-year-old said, "Ladies and gentlemen, something is coming along for you to see and hear, and it will be coming along on June Five."
June Fifth is henceforth known as June Five.
Despite the sparse information given, Lynch fans have already begun to speculate. The "see and hear" aspect suggests something movie or TV related, and if so - huge. But you can never be too sure when attempting to decipher a Lynchian tease: Are we getting an Eraserhead sequel, or a tutorial on how to build a wooden barn (again)?
Aside from his (adorable) daily weather updates and number readings on YouTube, we haven't had a new creative project from David Lynch since 'Twin Peaks: The Return' in 2017, the third season of his 90s cult classic TV show about a town infiltrated with dark forces following the murder of a teenage girl.
Known for his dark surrealism and ability to capture uncanny, subconscious states of mind that corrupt idealistic spaces with dark anxieties, Lynch has always stayed true to his unique creative visions, building a weird and wonderful filmography sparked by the success of Eraserhead in 1977.
His last movie, however, was Inland Empire in 2006, which stars Laura Dern as a Hollywood actress re-making a cursed film. In the eighteen years since, he's passed the time with transcendental meditation (which he has done twice a day since 1973), coffee (he used to drink twenty cups a day), carpentry (he makes a damn fine wood sink) and other creative pursuits, including recording the 2011 album 'Crazy Clown Time' and writing his sort-of autobiography "Room to Dream" in 2018.
In the latter, he shared that his last feature film attempt was in 2010, when he wrote a script called Antelope Don't Run No More that included "space aliens, talking animals, and a beleaguered musician named Pinky." Unable to secure any financing for the project, it was scrapped.
Lynch hasn't spoken fondly of the film industry in recent years. In a 2012 interview with the Hollywood Reporter, he said: "I think part of the reason ideas haven’t come in is that the world of cinema is changing so drastically, and in a weird way, feature films I think have become cheap. Everything is kind of throwaway."
There's still some optimism, though, as he continued: "I think that somewhere along the line, ideas will start coming and I may make a feature film. But I don’t hold out any hope for an audience. I just make it because I’m in love."
Most recently, there was Lynch's 'Wisteria/Unrecorded Night' project that fuelled excitement and rumours in 2020, a supposed 13-part Netflix TV series shrouded in mystery - although 'Twin Peaks' fans were certain it was related somehow due to the 'Eat at Judy's' diner in the last season being located on Wisteria Street.
Then 'Twin Peaks' star Kyle MacLachlan stoked the fire (walk with me) on social media by posting a picture of wisteria.
Still, we've heard nothing about the project since, suggesting it's gone dormant - perhaps disrupted by the pandemic. Could it finally be back on track and the big June Five revelation?
We'll just have to wait and see, the words of Agent Dale Cooper a caffeinated whisper in the air: "I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange."
