Well, damn. And not, for once, damn fine coffee. After all the excitement last October about the return of Twin Peaks to TV with original creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, cemented by the confirmation that Kyle MacLachlan will once again pull on Dale Cooper’s suits, things have taken a turn for the disappointing as Lynch has hit Twitter to reveal he’s no longer involved.
There were worrying rumours a few weeks ago when the writer/director made comments about contract trouble at a talk, and now he’s used social media to announce that he’s leaving the revived project, set up at US cable channel Showtime. “After one year and four months of negotiations, I left because not enough money was offered to do the script the way I felt it needed to be done,” Lynch wrote. “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.”
Showtime was quick to offer its own statement on the matter, issued through more traditional channels: “We were saddened to read David Lynch‘s statement today since we believed we were working towards solutions with David and his reps on the few remaining deal points. Showtime also loves the world of Twin Peaks and we continue to hold out hope that we can bring it back in all its glory with both of its extraordinary creators, David Lynch and Mark Frost, at its helm.”
Since the show has yet to kick off shooting, there remains the hope that this could be a negotiating tactic and Lynch will indeed return to work with Frost, though he’s not normally a man known for playing the power trip game. If not, hopefully someone else can be found the direct the nine planned episodes still reportedly scheduled to air next year.