The David Lynch Projects That Never Got Made, From ‘Ronnie Rocket’ to ‘Dune Messiah’ and ‘Wisteria’
David Lynch transformed the landscape of cinema with films like “Blue Velvet” and “Mulholland Drive,” and changed the parameters of television with “Twin Peaks.” From one project to the next, he repeatedly merged the surreal and nightmarish with the wholesome and quaint, luxuriating in the grey areas between an idyllic portrait of smalltown Americana and the danger and mystery lurking beneath it. But almost as notable as his filmography, which was more selective than many auteurs his age, was the number of projects he was attached to or rumored to be considering, including adaptations of books like Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” and bestseller “The White Hotel,” and even a meeting with George Lucas about the prospect of helming “Return of the Jedi.”
Many of these unrealized projects featured themes — or like “Mulholland Drive,” even started in different incarnations — that were revived or reimagined for other projects years later. Others originated with frankly outlandish “Lynchian” ideas such as “three guys who used to be cows, hanging around Van Nuys (“Dream of the Bovine”) or “a bunch of people digging a hole” (“The Happy Worker.”)
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It’s not surprising studios — much less audiences — weren’t ready for some of these projects. But after Lynch’s death Thursday, it’s worth luxuriating in speculation about what they might have become, even if we’ll never know which might have joined the canon of avant garde classics from this singular filmmaker.
“I’ll Test My Log With Every Branch of Knowledge”
Years before the Log Lady became a beloved part of “Twin Peaks,” Lynch already had logs on his mind. While filming the 1977 “Eraserhead,” Lynch reportedly told his collaborator Catherine E. Coulson he had an image of her holding a large log. He had an idea for a sort of interview show called “I’ll Test My Log With Every Branch of Knowledge,” but the offbeat idea didn’t go anywhere — until the character was memorably revived for “Twin Peaks.”
“Ronnie Rocket”
One of Lynch’s most-remembered unrealized projects dates all the way back to his “Eraserhead” days. “Ronnie Rocket,” about a detective who tries to enter another dimension and is pursued by “Donut Men,” would have also featured Michael J. Anderson, who later played The Man From Another Place in “Twin Peaks.” When financing fell through, he moved on to “The Elephant Man.” Lynch held onto his vision for the sci-fi fantasy, telling Indiewire as recently as 2013 that it could still get made.
“Dune: Messiah”
Lynch’s well-known, most criticized film was “Dune,” a commercial and critical flop that has been re-appraised by subsequent generations of filmgoers, even amid the release of Denis Villeneuve’s acclaimed adaptations. Speaking to David Breskin in 1990, he reflected, “Looking back, it’s no one’s fault but my own. … I saw tons and tons of possibilities for things I loved, and this was the structure to do them in. There was so much room to create a world. But I got strong indications from [producers] Raffaella and Dino De Laurentiis of what kind of film they expected, and I knew I didn’t have final cut.” Though he told Breskin he was relieved not to have to make a sequel, he admitted, “I was really getting into ‘Dune II.’ I wrote about half the script, maybe more, and I was really getting excited about it. It was much tighter, a better story.”
“Snootworld”
Lynch first conceived this animated feature, cowritten by Caroline Thompson (“Edward Scissorhands,” “Welcome to Marwen”), in the early 2000s. He insisted that the project tells more of an “old-fashioned” story, but its premise is unsurprisingly idiosyncratic: “It takes my breath away how wacky it is,” he told Deadline in April 2024. “The Snoots are these tiny creatures who have a ritual transition at aged eight at which time they get tinier and they’re sent away for a year so they are protected. The world goes into chaos when the Snoot hero of the story disappears into the carpet and his family can’t find him and he enters a crazy, magnificent world.” Though he revealed last year that Netflix executives turned down his “wackadoo” pitch, Lynch expressed optimism that he could still make the film, which would have marked his first feature-length animated project. “I like this story,” he said. “I’ve never really done a straight animation but with computers today it’s possible to do some spectacular things.”
“Antelope Don’t Run No More”
Since the release of “Inland Empire” in 2006, Lynch not only directed all 18 episodes of “Twin Peaks: The Return,” but several music videos and dozens of short films. Notwithstanding “Snootworld,” Lynch revealed in his 2018 memoir “Room to Dream” that he’d written this feature, which allegedly incorporates elements of the mythology of “Inland Empire” and “Mulholland Drive.” A summary of the script explains that it’s “a narrative fantasia that incorporates space aliens, talking animals and a beleaguered musician named Pinky; it’s impressed everyone who’s read it as one of the best scripts Lynch has ever written.” Though the filmmaker announced in 2024 that, due to being diagnosed with emphysema, he was unable to direct projects in-person, Lynch stressed that he was otherwise in great condition and was unequivocally not retiring.
“Unrecorded Night”/“Wisteria”
In March 2022, a casting note was identified in an industry publication for a Lynch project seeking an “actress with dark hair in their mid to late 20s,” and indicated that the role would require “tasteful nudity.” In November 2020, an issue of Production Weekly listed a new limited series from Lynch under the working title of “Wisteria,” whose real title was later revealed as “Unrecorded Night.” Lynch planned to write and direct 13 episodes with an $85 million budget, and enlisted “Lost Highway” and “Mulholland Drive” cinematographer Peter Deming as its lensman. (“Wisteria” was later revealed to be a “code name” the project was given by Netflix to maintain secrecy.)
According to a November 2021 conversation with Deming, the project was halted due to the COVID pandemic, but at the time he said he was “assuming it will come back to life at some point.” And in May 2024, Lynch’s longtime producer Sabrina Sutherland participated in an online Q&A on Tulpa Forum where she suggested that Lynch was preoccupied with other projects. “There’s always a chance we can pick it up again, but David has been enjoying his artwork and music endeavors, so we haven’t gone back to it,” she said.
Among the many other projects Lynch was involved with were:
“One Saliva Bubble,” written with Mark Frost, about a chain reaction caused by a saliva bubble shooting into a nuclear reactor. Both Steve Martin and Martin Short were rumored to star, but Dino De Laurentiis’ company went bust before it could be made.
“Twin Peaks” spin-off — Sherilyn Fenn was attached to reprise her role as Audrey in a spin-off of “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.” Though the project didn’t pan out, her character and the story later provided inspiration for “Mulholland Drive.”
“Venus Descending” or “Goddess,” a Marilyn Monroe biopic co-written with Mark Frost, which Warner Bros. ending up killing when the studio found out the story involved a Robert Kennedy-like character killing the Marilyn Monroe character.
“Love in Vain,” a biopic of blues musician Robert Johnson that Lynch became interested in after “The Elephant Man” and continued to mention until 2018.
Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis,” which sounds like the perfect material for Lynch. Although he completed a screenplay for the classic novel about a man who transforms into a giant cockroach, he decided it was better left as a book, and it was too costly to produce in the pre-CGI days.
Not surprisingly, Lynch didn’t turn out to be the right filmmaker to adapt Thomas Harris’ “Red Dragon,” though he did start work on it for “Dune” producer Dino de Laurentiis. Instead, Michael Mann ended up directing “Manhunter.”
In the late ’80s, Lynch worked on adapting the 1938 mystery novel “You Play the Black and the Red Comes Up,” a Hollywood-set story featuring characters based on famous L.A. figures such as Aimee Semple McPherson. But he ended up moving on to other projects.
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