David Lynch’s Unmade Projects: 10 Films and Shows the ‘Twin Peaks’ Creator Almost Directed

Few filmmakers in Hollywood history have remained as unapologetically committed to a singular vision as David Lynch. From redefining the midnight movie with “Eraserhead” in 1977 to expanding our understanding of what television can accomplish with “Twin Peaks: The Return” in 2017, the four-time Oscar nominee has been a consistent force of unbridled creativity throughout his entire career.

With over forty years of his artistry to study, it’s now easy to identify the tenets of a “Lynchian” film. His work typically feature a blend of dreamy surrealism, folksy humor, and psychological thrills rooted in the film noir genre. He constantly returns to motifs such as diners, lounge singers, women with mistaken identities, and references to “The Wizard of Oz.” His lifelong devotion to Transcendental Meditation has led him to focus on the images and ideas that can emerge from the unconscious mind. On a deeper level, his films often explore the pervasive presence of evil in human society, exploring how even the most idyllic settings are doomed to be infiltrated by dark cosmic forces. 

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Lynch’s surrealist impulses rarely mesh with the commercial realities of mainstream filmmaking, and he has been open about his many struggles to obtain financing for his films. If anything, it’s a miracle that he was able to make as much as he did — it’s hard to imagine “Mulholland Drive” or “Inland Empire” being particularly easy sales pitches. So anyone familiar with the delightful weirdness that Lynch was able to capture on film shouldn’t be surprised to learn that the films he couldn’t make are even weirder. A deep dive through his unmade projects features everything from aliens and men who used to be cows to insects that grow on the backs of adulterers. 

Lynch’s obsessive fanbase has created a rumor mill that virtually never stops spinning, so you can almost always find a new report that the “Twin Peaks” creator is hard at work on a mysterious new project. The percentage of those reports that end up being true is considerably lower, so this list focuses on projects that have been credibly confirmed to have been in development at one point. Keep reading for our roundup of ten unmade movies and TV shows from David Lynch. 

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