David Lynch's unrealized projects

The following is a list of unproduced David Lynch projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director David Lynch has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects, fell in development hell, were officially cancelled or were in development limbo.

1970s

Ronnie Rocket

After the success of Eraserhead,^[1] Lynch decided to focus on the screenplay of his second film, entitled Ronnie Rocket, which he also wanted to direct. The film's plot would have told the story of a detective seeking to enter a mysterious second dimension, aided by his ability to stand on one leg. He is being obstructed on this quest by a strange landscape of odd rooms and a threatening train; while being stalked by the "Donut Men", who wield electricity as a weapon. In addition to the detective's story, the film was to show the tale of Ronald d'Arte, a teenage dwarf, who suffers a surgical mishap which leaves him dependent on being plugged into an electrical supply at regular intervals; this dependence grants him an affinity over electricity which he can use to produce music or cause destruction. The boy names himself Ronnie Rocket and becomes a rock star, befriending a tap-dancer named Electra-Cute Michael J. Anderson and Dexter Fletcher were attached to the lead role at different times.^[2] However, the project never materialized due financial conflicts,^[3] so Lynch left the production and decided to direct The Elephant Man instead. Also, Anderson finally worked with Lynch in Twin Peaks.

1980s

Star Wars: Episode VI - Revenge of the Jedi

In the early 1980s, George Lucas approached Lynch to direct Star Wars: Episode VI - Revenge of the Jedi, the third and final installment in the Star Wars original trilogy. However, Lynch refused after discovering the Ewoks in the script of the film, and chose to direct his own space epic Dune.^[4] The film was finally released in 1983 as Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi and directed by the late Richard Marquand.

Venus Descending

In 1987, after the success of Blue Velvet, Lynch was hired by a Warner Bros. executive to direct a film based on the life of famous actress Marilyn Monroe, based on the best-selling book Goddess. The film would have revolved around the last few months of life of Monroe (named Rosilyn Ramsay for legal reasons), before her supposed assassination at hands of Bobby Kennedy (named Phillip Malloy for legal reasons). However, one of the project's producers decided to drop it, and Lynch decided to focus on One Saliva Bubble.^[5]

One Saliva Bubble

On May 20, 1987, Lynch and writer Mark Frost finished their script for a film project entitled One Saliva Bubble.^[6] The film's plot centered around the small town of Newtonville, KS, where a secret government project goes amuck. The result is an exchange of identities of several of the townsfolk. Steve Martin was attached to star in the lead role, although Martin Short was also rumored to take that part. However, the film never came in fruition for unknown reasons,^[7] so Lynch left the project to focus on Northwest Passage (which would later became Twin Peaks).

1990s

Northwest Passage

In 1990, Mark Frost and Lynch pitched the idea of a TV series entitled North Dakota. They proposed their idea to the ABC network and they ordered a pilot episode. The show's pilot title was later changed to Northwest Passage due the lack of forests and mountains in Plains region of North Dakota, whereby the new selected location was Pacific Northwest, in Washington.^[8] However, at the end, the title was changed to Twin Peaks, and the series was picked by the network.

Untitled Audrey Horne spin-off

During the filming of Twin Peaks around the 1990s, Lynch considered at one point of release an spin-off film of the series movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me centered Audrey Horne. Actress Sherylin Fenn was attached to reprise her role. However, the project was not made and the main plot was later inspired Lynch's film Mulholland Drive.^[9]

Twin Peaks 2

Before the release of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, Lynch planned to release a sequel to the film for being a continuation of the series after its cancellation. He also planned a third film. However, these plans were scrapped after the bad reception of Fire Walk with Me.^[10]

2000s

Mulholland Drive

In 2000, Lynch conceived the idea to make a TV series entitled Mulholland Drive. The project started as a 90-minute pilot produced by Touchstone Television and intended to be picked by the ABC network. However, during the filming of the pilot, ABC decided to not pick up the series.^[11] However, with the script rewritten, Lynch finally decided to direct it as a feature film, and was finally released in 2001.

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