Editing David Lynch (section)

==Film career==
===1967–1976: Short films and ''Eraserhead'' ===
Back in the United States, Lynch returned to Virginia. Because his parents had moved to [[Walnut Creek, California]], he stayed with his friend Toby Keeler for a while.<ref name=lynch05 />{{rp|p=36}} He decided to move to [[Philadelphia]] and enroll at the [[Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts]], after advice from Fisk, who was already enrolled there. He preferred this college to his previous school in Boston, saying, "In Philadelphia there were great and serious painters, and everybody was inspiring one another and it was a beautiful time there."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|36–37}} He recalled that Philadelphia had "a great mood—factories, smoke, railroads, diners, the strangest characters and the darkest night. I saw vivid images—plastic curtains held together with Band-Aids, rags stuffed in broken windows." He was influenced by the Irish painter [[Francis Bacon (artist)|Francis Bacon]].<ref name=Hoberman/> In Philadelphia, Lynch began a relationship with a fellow student, Peggy Reavey, whom he married in 1967. The next year, their daughter [[Jennifer Lynch|Jennifer]] was born. Peggy later said Lynch "definitely was a reluctant father, but a very loving one. Hey, I was pregnant when we got married. We were both reluctant."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|31}} As a family, they moved to Philadelphia's [[Fairmount, Philadelphia|Fairmount]] neighborhood, where they bought a 12-room house for the relatively low price of $3,500 ({{Inflation|US|3500|1967|fmt=eq|r=-2}}) due to the area's high crime and poverty rates. Lynch later said:

{{blockquote|We lived cheap, but the city was full of fear. A kid was shot to death down the street&nbsp;... We were robbed twice, had windows shot out and a car stolen. The house was first broken into only three days after we moved in&nbsp;... The feeling was so close to extreme danger, and the fear was so intense. There was violence and hate and filth. But the biggest influence in my whole life was that city.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|42–43}}}}

Meanwhile, to help support his family, Lynch took a job printing [[engravings]].<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|43}} At the Pennsylvania Academy, Lynch made his first short film, ''[[Six Men Getting Sick (Six Times)]]'' (1967). He had first come up with the idea when he developed a wish to see his paintings move, and he began discussing creating animation with an artist named Bruce Samuelson. When this project never came about, Lynch decided to work on a film alone and purchased the cheapest 16mm camera he could find. Taking one of the academy's abandoned upper rooms as a workspace, he spent $150,<ref name="The Short Films of David Lynch">{{cite AV media|title=The Short Films of David Lynch|year=2002}}</ref> which at the time he felt was a lot of money, to produce ''Six Men Getting Sick''.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|37–38}} Calling the film "57 seconds of growth and fire, and three seconds of vomit", Lynch played it on a loop at the academy's annual end-of-year exhibit, where it shared joint-first prize with a painting by Noel Mahaffey.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|38}}<ref name="leblancodell">{{Cite book |last1=Le Blanc |first1=Michelle |author1-link=Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell |author2-link=Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell |title=David Lynch |last2=Odell |first2=Colin |publisher=Pocket Essentials |year=2000 |isbn=1-903047-06-4 |location=Harpenden, Hertfordshire}}</ref>{{rp|15–16}} This led to a commission from one of his fellow students, the wealthy H. Barton Wasserman, who offered him $1,000 ({{Inflation|US|1000|1968|fmt=eq|r=-2}}) to create a film installation in his home. Spending $478 of that on the second-hand [[Bolex]] camera "of [his] dreams", Lynch produced a new animated short but, upon getting the film developed, realized that the result was a blurred, frameless print. He later said, "So I called up [Wasserman] and said, 'Bart, the film is a disaster. The camera was broken and what I've done hasn't turned out.' And he said, 'Don't worry, David, take the rest of the money and make something else for me. Just give me a print.' End of story."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|39}}

With his leftover money, Lynch decided to experiment with a mix of animation and live action, producing the four-minute short ''[[The Alphabet (film)|The Alphabet]]'' (1968). The film starred Lynch's wife Peggy as a character known as The Girl, who chants the alphabet to a series of images of horses before dying at the end by hemorrhaging blood all over her bed sheets. Adding a sound effect, Lynch used a broken [[Uher (brand)|Uher]] tape recorder to record the sound of Jennifer crying, creating a distorted sound that Lynch found particularly effective. Later describing what had inspired him, Lynch said, "Peggy's niece was having a bad dream one night and was saying the alphabet in her sleep in a tormented way. So that's sort of what started 'The Alphabet' going. The rest of it was just subconscious."<ref name=leblancodell/>{{rp|15–16}}<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|39–40}}

Learning about the newly founded [[American Film Institute]], which gave grants to filmmakers who could support their application with a prior work and a script for a new project, Lynch decided to submit a copy of ''The Alphabet'' along with a script he had written for a new short film, ''[[The Short Films of David Lynch#The Grandmother|The Grandmother]]'', that would be almost entirely live action.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|42}} The institute agreed to help finance the work, initially offering him $5,000 out of his requested budget of $7,200, but later granting him the additional $2,200. Starring people he knew from both work and college and filmed in his own house,<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|44–47}} ''The Grandmother'' featured a neglected boy who "grows" a grandmother from a seed to care for him. The film critics [[Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell]] wrote, "this film is a true oddity but contains many of the themes and ideas that would filter into his later work, and shows a remarkable grasp of the medium".<ref name=leblancodell/>{{rp|18}}

[[File:Eraserhead.jpg|thumb|alt=Black and white image of a man with long wild hair standing straight up, as if electrocuted like a cartoon|Theatrical release poster for ''[[Eraserhead]]'' (1977)]]
Lynch left the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts after three semesters and in 1970 moved with his wife and daughter to Los Angeles,<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Blumgart |first=Jake |date=2014-09-22 |title=David Lynch in Philly, a City He Feared |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/david-lynch-in-philly-a-city-he-hated/
 |magazine=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |access-date=2025-01-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=David Lynch: "It Can All Be So Beautiful" |url=https://americanfilm.afi.com/issue/2012/12/conservatory |access-date=January 16, 2025 |website=American Film}}</ref> where he began studying filmmaking at the [[AFI Conservatory]], a place he later called "completely chaotic and disorganized, which was great&nbsp;... you quickly learned that if you were going to get something done, you would have to do it yourself. They wanted to let people do their thing."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|57–58}} He began writing a script for a proposed work, ''Gardenback'', that had "unfolded from this painting I'd done". In this venture he was supported by a number of figures at the Conservatory, who encouraged him to lengthen the script and add more dialogue, which he reluctantly agreed to do. All the interference on his ''Gardenback'' project made him fed up with the Conservatory and led him to quit after returning to start his second year and being put in first-year classes. AFI dean [[Frank Daniel]] asked Lynch to reconsider, believing that he was one of the school's best students. Lynch agreed on the condition that he could create a project that would not be interfered with. Feeling that ''Gardenback'' was "wrecked", he set out on a new film, ''[[Eraserhead]]''.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|58–59}}

''Eraserhead'' was planned to be about 42 minutes long (it ended up being 89 minutes), its script was only 21 pages, and Lynch was able to create the film without interference. He recalled its origin: "My original image was of a man's head bouncing on the ground, being picked up by a boy and taken to a pencil factory. I don’t know where it came from."<ref name=Corliss/> Filming began on May 29, 1972, at night in some abandoned stables, allowing the production team (which was largely Lynch and some of his friends, including [[Sissy Spacek]], [[Jack Fisk]], cinematographer [[Frederick Elmes]], and sound designer [[Alan Splet]]) to set up a camera room, green room, editing room, sets, as well as a food room and a bathroom.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|59–60}} The [[American Film Institute|AFI]] gave Lynch a $10,000 grant, but it was not enough to complete the film, and under pressure from studios after the success of the relatively cheap feature film ''[[Easy Rider]]'', it was unable to give him more. Lynch was then supported by a loan from his father and money that he earned from a paper route that he took up, delivering ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]''.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|60, 76}}<ref>{{cite news |title=David Lynch |url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303754904577530860419854198.html?google_editors_picks=true |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |access-date=July 22, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725005614/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303754904577530860419854198.html?google_editors_picks=true |archive-date=July 25, 2012|date=July 21, 2012 |url-status=live }}
</ref> Not long into ''Eraserhead''{{'}}s production, Lynch and Peggy amicably separated and divorced, and he began living full-time on set. In 1977, Lynch married Jack Fisk's sister Mary Fisk.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|60, 80, 110}} In 1973, Lynch's sister suggested he try [[Transcendental Meditation]]. It proved a revelation, and Lynch claimed "to never have missed a session since: twenty minutes, twice a day."<ref name=Lim/>{{rp|2–3}}

Due to financial problems, the filming of ''Eraserhead'' was haphazard, regularly stopping and starting again. During one such break in 1974, Lynch made ''The Amputee'', a one-shot film about two minutes long. He proposed that he make ''The Amputee'' to present to AFI to test two different types of film stock.<ref name=leblancodell/>{{rp|28–29}}

''Eraserhead'' was finally finished in 1976. Lynch said that not a single reviewer of the film understood it as he intended. Filmed in black and white, ''Eraserhead'' tells the story of Henry ([[Jack Nance]]), a quiet young man, living in a [[dystopia]]n industrial wasteland, whose girlfriend gives birth to a deformed baby whom she leaves in his care. It was heavily influenced by the fearful mood of Philadelphia, and Lynch has called it "my ''[[The Philadelphia Story (film)|Philadelphia Story]]''".<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|56}}<ref name = "cehwte">{{cite interview |title=tip Filmjahrbuch Nr. 1 (1985) |trans-title=tip Film Yearbook No.&nbsp;1 (1985) |url=http://www.davidlynch.de/tiplynchtrans.html |subject=David Lynch |interviewer=Herman Weigel |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101011151810/http://davidlynch.de/tiplynchtrans.html |archive-date=October 11, 2010 }}</ref> Lynch tried to get it entered into the [[Cannes Film Festival]], but while some reviewers liked it, others felt it was awful, and it was not selected for screening. Reviewers from the [[New York Film Festival]] also rejected it, but it screened at the [[Los Angeles Film Festival]], where [[Ben Barenholtz]], the distributor of the [[Elgin Theater]], heard about it.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|82–83}} Barenholtz was very supportive of the movie, helping to distribute it around the United States in 1977. ''Eraserhead'' subsequently became popular on the [[midnight movie]] underground circuit,<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|54}} and was later called one of the most important midnight movies of the 1970s, along with ''[[Night of the Living Dead]]'', ''[[El Topo]]'', ''[[Pink Flamingos]]'', ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]'', and ''[[The Harder They Come]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457414/ |title=Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream |publisher=[[IMDb]] }}</ref> [[Stanley Kubrick]] said it was one of his all-time favorite films.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|77}}

===1980–1989: Populist surrealism ===
After ''Eraserhead''{{'}}s success on the underground circuit, [[Stuart Cornfeld]], an executive producer for [[Mel Brooks]], saw it and recalled, "I was just 100 percent blown away&nbsp;... I thought it was the greatest thing I'd ever seen. It was such a cleansing experience."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|88}} Brooks viewed ''Eraserhead'', and after coming out of the screening theater, embraced Lynch, declaring, "You're a madman! I love you! You're in."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|92–93}}

Cornfeld agreed to help Lynch with his next film, ''[[Ronnie Rocket]]'', for which Lynch had already written a script. But Lynch soon realized that ''Ronnie Rocket'', a film that he said is about "electricity and a three-foot guy with red hair", was not going to be picked up by any financiers, and so he asked Cornfeld to find him a script by someone else that he could direct. Cornfeld found four. On hearing the title of the first, ''The Elephant Man'', Lynch chose it.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|90–92}} ''[[The Elephant Man (1980 film)|The Elephant Man]]''{{'}}s script, by Chris de Vore and [[Eric Bergren]], is based on the true story of [[Joseph Merrick]], a severely deformed man in [[Victorian era|Victorian]] London, who was held in a [[sideshow]] but later taken under the care of a London surgeon, [[Sir Frederick Treves, 1st Baronet|Frederick Treves]]. Lynch wanted to make some alterations that would deviate from real events but in his view make a better plot,<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|95}} but he needed the permission of Brooks, whose company, [[Brooksfilms]], was responsible for production. The film stars [[John Hurt]] as John Merrick (the name changed from Joseph) and [[Anthony Hopkins]] as Treves. Filming took place in London. Though surrealistic and in black and white, it has been called "one of the most conventional" of Lynch's films.<ref name=leblancodell/>{{rp|29–30}} It was a critical and commercial success, earning eight [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nominations, including [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] and [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Adapted Screenplay]].<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|104}}

After ''The Elephant Man''{{'}}s success, [[George Lucas]], a fan of ''Eraserhead'', offered Lynch the opportunity to direct the third film in his original ''[[Star Wars]]'' trilogy, ''[[Return of the Jedi]]''. Lynch declined, saying that he had "next door to zero interest" and arguing that Lucas should direct the film himself as the movie should reflect his own vision, not Lynch's.<ref>{{cite web |title=David Lynch Meets George Lucas | date=February 17, 2010 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJQ4vCu-S0U |via=YouTube |access-date=December 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911060947/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJQ4vCu-S0U|archive-date=September 11, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name = "cehwte" /><ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|113}} Soon, the opportunity to direct another big-budget science fiction epic arose when [[Dino de Laurentiis]] of the [[De Laurentiis Entertainment Group]] asked Lynch to create a film adaptation of [[Frank Herbert]]'s science fiction novel [[Dune (novel)|''Dune'']] (1965).<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|113}} Lynch agreed, and in doing so was also contractually obliged to produce two other works for the company. He began writing a script based on the novel, initially with both de Vore and Bergren, and then alone when De Laurentiis was unhappy with their ideas.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|115}} Lynch also helped build some of the sets, attempting to create "a certain look", and particularly enjoyed building the set for the oil planet [[Giedi Prime]], for which he used "steel, bolts, and porcelain".<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|118}}

''Dune'' is set in the far future, when humans live in an interstellar empire under a [[feudalism|feudal system]]. The main character, [[Paul Atreides]] ([[Kyle MacLachlan]]), is the son of a nobleman who takes control of the [[desert planet]] [[Arrakis]], which grows the rare spice [[melange (fictional drug)|melange]], the empire's most highly prized commodity. Lynch was unhappy with the work, later saying: "''Dune'' was a kind of studio film. I didn't have [[final cut privilege|final cut]]. And, little by little, I was subconsciously making compromises".<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|120}} Much of his footage was removed from the final theatrical cut, dramatically condensing the plot.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|116–117}} Although De Laurentiis hoped it would be as successful as ''Star Wars'', ''[[Dune (1984 film)|Dune]]'' (1984) was a critical and commercial dud; it had cost $45&nbsp;million to make, and grossed $27.4&nbsp;million domestically. Later, [[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]] released an "extended cut" for syndicated television, containing almost an hour of cutting-room-floor footage and new narration. It did not represent Lynch's intentions, but the studio considered it more comprehensible than the original version. Lynch objected to the changes and had his name struck from the extended cut, which has [[Alan Smithee]] credited as the director and "Judas Booth" (a pseudonym Lynch invented, reflecting his feelings of betrayal) as the screenwriter.<ref>{{cite book |url={{Google books|l5JwyKjpH2QC|plainurl=yes}} |title=The cinema of David Lynch: American dreams, nightmare visions |first1=Erica |last1=Sheen |first2=Annette |last2=Davison |publisher=Wallflower Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-903364-85-7 |access-date=January 12, 2016 |archive-date=December 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228024824/https://books.google.com/books?id=l5JwyKjpH2QC&pg=PA41 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Lynch was still contractually obligated to produce two other projects for De Laurentiis, the first a planned sequel to ''Dune'', which due to the film's failure never went beyond the script stage.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|115}} The other was a more personal work, based on a script Lynch had been working on for some time. Developing from ideas that Lynch had had since 1973, ''[[Blue Velvet (film)|Blue Velvet]]'' was set in [[Lumberton, North Carolina]], and revolves around a college student, Jeffrey Beaumont (MacLachlan), who finds a severed ear in a field. Investigating with the help of his friend Sandy ([[Laura Dern]]), Jeffrey discovers a criminal gang led by psychopath [[Frank Booth (Blue Velvet)|Frank Booth]] ([[Dennis Hopper]]), who has kidnapped the husband and child of singer Dorothy Vallens ([[Isabella Rossellini]]) and repeatedly rapes her. Lynch called the story "a dream of strange desires wrapped inside a mystery story".<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|138}} Lynch included 1960s pop songs, including [[Roy Orbison]]'s "[[In Dreams (Roy Orbison song)|In Dreams]]" and [[Bobby Vinton]]'s "[[Blue Velvet (song)|Blue Velvet]]", the latter of which largely inspired the film. Lynch said, "It was the song that sparked the movie&nbsp;... There was something mysterious about it. It made me think about things. And the first things I thought about were lawns—lawns and the neighborhood."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|134}} Other music for the film is by [[Angelo Badalamenti]], who scored most of Lynch's subsequent work.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|130–132}} 

De Laurentiis loved the film, and it received support at some of the early specialist screenings, but the preview screenings to mainstream audiences were very poorly received.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|148–149}} The film was controversial; [[Roger Ebert]] wrote that Rossellini "is asked to do things in this film that require real nerve{{nbsp}}… She is degraded, slapped around, humiliated and undressed in front of the camera." Rossellini responded: "I was an adult. I was 31 or 32. I chose to play the character ...  I think my character was the first time we did an abused woman, a portrait of an abused woman, but also she camouflaged herself behind what she was asked to be, which was sexy and beautiful and singing, and she obeys the order, and is also victimized it. That’s the complexity of ''Blue Velvet'' but also the great talent of David Lynch. I thought he did a fantastic film. I love ''Blue Velvet''."<ref>{{cite news| last=Lattanzio| first=Ryan| date=March 27, 2024| title=Isabella Rossellini Responds to Roger Ebert's 'Blue Velvet' Review| work=[[Indiewire]]| url=https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/isabella-rossellini-responds-roger-ebert-blue-velvet-review-1234968621/}}</ref> ''Blue Velvet'' was a critical and commercial success, winning the [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film]] and earning Lynch his second Academy Award nomination for Best Director. [[David Thomson (film critic)| David Thomson]] recalls seeing it for the first time: "The occasion stood as the last moment of transcendence I had felt at the movies—until ''[[The Piano]]''. What I mean by that is a kind of passionate involvement with both the story and the making of a film, so that I was simultaneously moved by the enactment on the screen and by discovering that a new director had made the medium alive and dangerous again."<ref name=Thomson/> [[Pauline Kael]] praised Lynch as a "genius naïf" and predicted that he "might turn out to be the first populist surrealist—a [[Frank Capra]] of dream logic." She quoted a moviegoer as saying "Maybe I’m sick, but I want to see that again."<ref>{{cite magazine| last=Kael| first=Pauline| author-link=Pauline Kael |title=Out There and In Here| magazine=[[The New Yorker]]| date=September 22, 1986| url=https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/movies/blue-velvet-review-pauline-kael/}}</ref>

=== 1990–1999: ''Twin Peaks'' and film work ===
[[File:David Lynch Cannes.jpg|thumb|upright|Lynch at the [[1990 Cannes Film Festival]]]]
Lynch met the television producer [[Mark Frost]] and they started working together on a biopic of [[Marilyn Monroe]] based on [[Anthony Summers]]'s book ''The Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe'', but it never got off the ground.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|156–157}}<ref name=leblancodell/>{{rp|85}} While talking in a coffee shop, Lynch and Frost had the idea of a corpse washing up on a lakeshore, and went to work on their third project, first called ''Northwest Passage'' and then ''[[Twin Peaks]]'' (1990–91).<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|157}} A drama set in an eponymous small [[Washington (state)|Washington]] town where popular high school student [[Laura Palmer]] ([[Sheryl Lee]]) has been murdered, ''Twin Peaks'' featured [[FBI]] [[Dale Cooper|Special Agent Dale Cooper]] (MacLachlan) as the investigator trying to identify the killer, and discovering many of the townsfolk's secrets; Lynch said, "The project was to mix a police investigation with the ordinary lives of the characters." He later said, "[Mark Frost and I] worked together, especially in the initial stages. Later on we started working more apart." They pitched the series to [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], which agreed to finance the pilot and eventually commissioned a season comprising seven episodes.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|157–159}} [[Richard Corliss]] wrote: "Long before the series' April premiere, ecstatic critics were priming TV viewers to expect the unexpected. Lynch's two-hour pilot didn't disappoint. It was frantic and lugubrious in turn, a soap opera with strychnine. In one night, the show had hip America hooked."<ref name=Corliss/>

Lynch directed two of the first season's seven episodes and carefully chose the other episodes' directors.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|174–175}} He also appeared in several episodes as FBI agent [[Gordon Cole (Twin Peaks)|Gordon Cole]]. The series was a success, with high ratings in the U.S. and many other countries, and soon had a cult following. A second season of 22 episodes went into production, but ABC executives believed that public interest in the show was declining. The network insisted that Lynch and Frost reveal Laura's killer's identity prematurely, which Lynch grudgingly agreed to do,<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|180–181}} in what Lynch called one of his biggest professional regrets.<ref>{{cite AV media|chapter=A Slice of Lynch|type=DVD featurette|title=Twin Peaks Definitive Gold Box Edition|year=2007}}</ref> After identifying the murderer and moving from Thursday to Saturday night, ''Twin Peaks'' continued for several more episodes, but was canceled after a ratings drop. Lynch, who disliked the direction that writers and directors took in the later episodes, directed the final episode. He ended it with a [[cliffhanger]] (like season one had), later saying, "that's not the ending. That's the ending that people were stuck with."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|182}}

Meanwhile, he was also involved in creating various commercials for companies including [[Yves Saint Laurent (brand)|Yves Saint Laurent]], [[Calvin Klein]], [[Giorgio Armani]], and the Japanese coffee company Namoi, which featured a Japanese man searching Twin Peaks for his missing wife.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|211–212}}

{{quote box|width=275px|align=right|quote=1990 was Lynch's annus mirabilis: ''Wild at Heart'' won the [[Palme d'Or]] at [[Cannes]], and the television series ''Twin Peaks'' was proving a smash hit with audiences across the world. The musical/performance piece ''Industrial Symphony No.&nbsp;1'', which Lynch had staged with Angelo Badalamenti at the Brooklyn Academy of music, had spawned the album ''Floating into the Night'' and launched singer [[Julee Cruise]]. Five one-man exhibitions between 1989 and 1991 emphasized Lynch's roots in fine art and painting, and a rash of ads (including a teaser trailer for [[Michael Jackson]]'s 'Dangerous' tour) confirmed the demand for the Lynch touch&nbsp;... In an unlikely scenario for the maker of ''Eraserhead'', Lynch had become an influential and fashionable brand name.|source= —Christopher Rodley<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|p=191}}
}}

While Lynch was working on the first few episodes of ''Twin Peaks'', his friend [[Monty Montgomery (producer)|Monty Montgomery]] "gave me a book that he wanted to direct as a movie. He asked if I would maybe be executive producer or something, and I said 'That's great, Monty, but what if I read it and fall in love with it and want to do it myself?' And he said, 'In that case, you can do it yourself'." The book was [[Barry Gifford]]'s novel ''[[Wild at Heart (novel)|Wild at Heart: The Story of Sailor and Lula]]'', about two lovers on a road trip. Lynch felt that it was "just exactly the right thing at the right time. The book and the violence in America merged in my mind and many different things happened."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|193}} With Gifford's support, Lynch adapted the novel into ''[[Wild at Heart (film)|Wild at Heart]]'', a [[crime fiction|crime]] and [[road movie]] starring [[Nicolas Cage]] as Sailor and [[Laura Dern]] as Lula.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/film/2010/01/lynch-prosthetic-god-world|title=His dark materials|website=[[New Statesman]]|language=en|access-date=November 15, 2017|archive-date=November 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116074418/https://www.newstatesman.com/film/2010/01/lynch-prosthetic-god-world|url-status=live}}</ref> Calling its plot a "strange blend" of "a road picture, a love story, a psychological drama and a violent comedy", Lynch departed substantially from the novel, changing the ending and incorporating numerous references to ''[[The Wizard of Oz]]''.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|193–194, 198}} Corliss wrote: "''Wild at Heart'', which sends a pair of loser lovers (Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern) on a trip into the dark night of the [[Southern Gothic]] soul, is a tonic for the senses and an assault on the sensibilities. Heads splatter, skulls explode, biker punks torture folks for the sheer heck of it, and a pair of loopy innocents find excitement in a side trip to hell. Pretty much like ''Blue Velvet''. Yes, it's different, but the same kind of different; Lynch could no longer shock by being shocking. Many critics figured they had solved the mystery of his visual style and thematic preoccupations. Next mystery, please. By August, when the film opened in the U.S., the Lynch mob was more like a lynch mob."<ref name=Corliss/> Despite a muted response from American critics and viewers, ''Wild at Heart'' won the [[Palme d'Or]] at the [[1990 Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="cannes-1990.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/164/year/1990.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Wild at Heart |access-date=August 7, 2009 |work=festival-cannes.com |archive-date=January 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119153548/http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/164/year/1990.html |url-status=live }}</ref> When it won the prize, audience members booed Lynch and the film.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/10-films-booed-at-cannes-that-every-cinephile-should-see-187984/|title= 10 Films Booed at Cannes That Every Cinephile Should See|website= [[IndieWire]]|date= April 17, 2015|accessdate= January 20, 2025}}</ref> 

After ''Wild at Heart''{{'}}s success, Lynch returned to the world of the canceled ''Twin Peaks'', this time without Frost, to make a film that was primarily a prequel but also in part a sequel. Lynch said, "I liked the idea of the story going back and forth in time."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|187}} The result, ''[[Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me]]'' (1992), primarily revolved around the last few days of Laura Palmer's life, was much "darker" in tone than the TV series, with much of the humor removed, and dealt with such topics as [[incest]] and murder. Lynch has said the film is about "the loneliness, shame, guilt, confusion and devastation of the victim of incest". The company CIBY-2000 financed ''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'', and most of the TV series's cast reprised their roles, though some refused and many were unenthusiastic about the project.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|184–187}} The film was a commercial failure in the U.S. at the time of its release, but has since experienced a critical reappraisal. Many critics, such as [[Mark Kermode]], have called it Lynch's "masterpiece".<ref name="Kermode, Mark">{{cite news | last = Kermode | first = Mark | title = David Lynch | work =[[The Guardian]] | date = February 8, 2007 | url = http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2011369,00.html | access-date = October 27, 2009 | location = London | archive-date = June 21, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080621010856/http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2011369,00.html | url-status = live }}</ref>

Meanwhile, Lynch worked on some new television shows. He and Frost created the comedy series ''[[On the Air (TV series)|On the Air]]'' (1992), which was canceled after three episodes aired, and he and Montgomery created the three-episode [[HBO]] [[miniseries]] ''[[Hotel Room]]'' (1993) about events that happen in one hotel room on different dates.<ref name=leblancodell/>{{rp|82–84}}

In 1993, Lynch collaborated with Japanese musician [[Yoshiki (musician)|Yoshiki]] on the video for [[X Japan]]'s song "[[Longing (song)|Longing ~Setsubou no Yoru~]]". The video was never officially released, but Lynch wrote in his 2018 memoir ''Room to Dream'' that "some of the frames are so fuckin' beautiful, you can't believe it."<ref name="Room-to-Dream">{{Cite book|title=Room to Dream|author1=Lynch, David|author2=McKenna, Kristine|isbn=9780399589195|edition= First|location=New York, N.Y.|page=327|oclc=1019843510}}</ref>

After his unsuccessful TV ventures, Lynch returned to film. In 1997, he released the non-linear [[film noir|noiresque]] ''[[Lost Highway (film)|Lost Highway]]'', which was co-written by Barry Gifford and stars [[Bill Pullman]] and [[Patricia Arquette]]. The film failed commercially and received a mixed response from critics.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lost Highway (1997)|url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lost-Highway#tab=summary|website=[[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]]|access-date=August 3, 2016|archive-date=June 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616053411/https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lost-Highway#tab=summary|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Lost Highway Reviews|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/lost-highway|publisher=[[Metacritic]]|access-date=August 3, 2016|archive-date=May 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505005724/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/lost-highway|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lynch then began work on a film from a script by [[Mary Sweeney]] and John E. Roach, ''[[The Straight Story]]'', based on the true story of [[Alvin Straight]] ([[Richard Farnsworth]]), an elderly man from [[Laurens, Iowa]], who goes on a 300-mile journey to visit his sick brother ([[Harry Dean Stanton]]) in [[Mount Zion, Wisconsin]], by [[Riding mower|riding lawnmower]]. Asked why he chose this script, Lynch said, "that's what I fell in love with next", and expressed his admiration of Straight, describing him as "like [[James Dean]], except he's old".<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|247, 252}} Badalamenti scored the film, calling it "very different from the kind of score he's done for [Lynch] in the past".<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|260}}

Among the many differences from Lynch's other films, ''[[The Straight Story]]'' contains no profanity, sex, or violence, and is rated G (general viewing) by the [[Motion Picture Association of America]], which came as "shocking news" to many in the film industry, who were surprised that it "did not disturb, offend or mystify".<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|245}} Le Blanc and Odell write that the plot made it "seem as far removed from Lynch's earlier works as could be imagined, but in fact right from the very opening, this is entirely his film—a surreal road movie".<ref name=leblancodell/>{{rp|69}} It was also Lynch's only title released by [[Walt Disney Pictures]] in the U.S., after studio president [[Peter Schneider (film executive)|Peter Schneider]] screened the film before its Cannes Film Festival premiere and quickly had Disney acquire the distribution rights. Schneider said it is "a beautiful movie about values, forgiveness and healing and celebrates America. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was a Walt Disney film."<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Petrikin |first1=Chris |last2=Dawtrey |first2=Adam |date=May 10, 1999 |title=Disney, Lynch go 'Straight' |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |url=https://variety.com/1999/film/news/disney-lynch-go-straight-1117500191/ |access-date=April 23, 2020}}</ref> It was named one of the best films of the year by ''[[The New York Times]]''; [[Janet Maslin]] wrote: "Somehow it took David Lynch to lead audiences past the ultimate frontier: into a G-rated parable of spirituality and decency, seen from the unfashionable vantage point of old age. Mr. Lynch accomplished the unthinkable by putting Richard Farnsworth, in a devastatingly real and rock-solid performance, on a lawnmower at five miles per hour and still building enough drama and emotion for a great chase. Burned out on the surreal and the grotesque, Mr. Lynch faced down inevitable realities about aging and conscience."<ref>{{cite news| title=1999: THE YEAR IN REVIEW - FILM; Discovering Fresh Ways to See and to Sell| last=Maslin| first=Janet| author-link=Janet Maslin| date=December 26, 1999| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/26/movies/1999-the-year-in-review-film-discovering-fresh-ways-to-see-and-to-sell.html| work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

===2000–2009: ''Mulholland Drive'' and beyond ===
[[File:Mulholland drive(lynch)--.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Four people stand beside each other facing off-camera, from left to right: a blonde woman wearing a tan dress suit, a man with salt-and-pepper hair wearing a blazer over white shirt and slacks, a brunette wearing red pants and a black top, and a dark-haired man wearing a black leather jacket over black clothes.|Lynch (second from left) at the [[2001 Cannes Film Festival]] promoting ''[[Mulholland Drive (film)|Mulholland Drive]]'']]
In 1999, Lynch approached [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] again with ideas for a television drama. The network gave Lynch the go-ahead to shoot a two-hour pilot for the series ''Mulholland Drive'', but disputes over content and running time led to the project being shelved indefinitely. With $7 million from the French [[production company]] [[StudioCanal]], Lynch completed the pilot as a film, ''[[Mulholland Drive (film)|Mulholland Drive]]''. The film, a nonlinear surrealist tale of [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]]'s dark side, stars [[Naomi Watts]], [[Laura Harring]], and [[Justin Theroux]]. It performed relatively well at the box office worldwide and was a critical success, earning Lynch [[Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director|Best Director]] at the [[2001 Cannes Film Festival]] (shared with [[Coen brothers|Joel Coen]] for ''[[The Man Who Wasn't There (2001 film)|The Man Who Wasn't There]]'') and Best Director from the New York Film Critics Association. He also received his third Academy Award nomination for Best Director.<ref name="oscar-db">{{cite web|title=Academy Award Database: Lynch, David|url=http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/DisplayMain.jsp?curTime=13035139382341|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113073650/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/DisplayMain.jsp?curTime=13035139382341|archive-date=January 13, 2012|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|access-date=April 23, 2011}}</ref> In 2016, the film was named the [[BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century|best film of the 21st century in a BBC poll]] of 177 film critics from 36 countries.<ref name="Brown-2016">{{cite news |first=Mark |last=Brown |title=Mulholland Drive leads the pack in list of 21st century's top films |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=August 22, 2016 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/23/mulholland-drive-david-lynch-21st-century-top-films-bbc-poll |access-date=August 23, 2016 |archive-date=August 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822235543/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/23/mulholland-drive-david-lynch-21st-century-top-films-bbc-poll |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]], who had dismissed much of Lynch's earlier work, wrote: "At last his experiment doesn't shatter the test tubes. The movie is a surrealist dreamscape in the form of a Hollywood film noir, and the less sense it makes, the more we can't stop watching it."<ref>{{cite news| last=Ebert| first=Roger| title=Mulholland Drive| date=October 12, 2001| work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]| url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mulholland-drive-2001}}</ref>

With the rising popularity of the Internet, Lynch decided to use it as a distribution channel, releasing several new series he had created exclusively on his website, davidlynch.com, which went online on December 10, 2001.<ref>{{cite web|first=Enrique|last=Rivero|url=http://www.hive4media.com/news/html/Product_article.cfm?article_ID=2849|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020604204833/http://www.hive4media.com/news/html/Product_article.cfm?article_ID=2849|title=Director David Lynch Has Do-It-Himself DVD|website=hive4media.com|archive-date=June 4, 2002|date=March 28, 2002|access-date=September 10, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2002, he created a series of online shorts, ''[[DumbLand]]''. Intentionally crude in content and execution, the eight-episode series was later released on DVD.<ref>{{cite news|title=It's Just Lynch|url=http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/screen/its_just_lynch-38410479.html|access-date=August 16, 2012|newspaper=Philadelphia Weekly|date=January 4, 2006|first=Leo|last=Charney|agency=Review Publishing Limited Partnership|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912101457/http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/screen/its_just_lynch-38410479.html|archive-date=September 12, 2012}}</ref> The same year, Lynch released a surreal sitcom, ''[[Rabbits (film)|Rabbits]]'', about a family of humanoid rabbits. Later, he made his experiments with [[DV (video format)|Digital Video]] available in the form of the Japanese-style horror short ''[[Darkened Room]]''. In 2006, Lynch's feature film ''[[Inland Empire (film)|Inland Empire]]'' was released. At three hours, it is his longest film. Like ''Mulholland Drive'' and ''Lost Highway'', it lacks a traditional narrative structure. It stars [[Laura Dern]], [[Harry Dean Stanton]], and [[Justin Theroux]], with cameos by [[Naomi Watts]] and [[Laura Harring]] as the voices of Suzie and Jane Rabbit, and a performance by [[Jeremy Irons]]. Lynch called ''Inland Empire'' "a mystery about a woman in trouble". In an effort to promote it, he made appearances with a cow and a placard bearing the slogan "Without cheese there would be no ''Inland Empire''".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Lynch-dives-within-The-cult-director-discusses-2651144.php |title=Lynch dives within |first=Neva |last=Chonin |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=February 7, 2007 |access-date=March 21, 2011 |archive-date=January 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118202403/http://articles.sfgate.com/2007-02-07/entertainment/17233482_1_inland-empire-bird-feeders-squirrels |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:David Lynch (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.75|Lynch in Moscow in 2009]]
In 2009, Lynch produced a documentary Web series directed by his son Austin Lynch and friend Jason S., ''Interview Project''.<ref>{{Cite magazine | last=Hart | first=Hugh | title=David Lynch's Interview Project Probes American Dreams | url=https://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/05/david-lynchs-interview-project-probes-american-dreams/ | magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] | date=May 30, 2009 | access-date=August 30, 2011 | archive-date=January 13, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113075430/http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/05/david-lynchs-interview-project-probes-american-dreams/ | url-status=live }}</ref> Interested in working with [[Werner Herzog]], in 2009 Lynch collaborated on Herzog's film ''[[My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done]]''. With a nonstandard narrative, the film is based on a true story of an actor who committed [[matricide]] while acting in a production of the ''[[Oresteia]]'', and stars [[Grace Zabriskie]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Kay|first=Jeremy|date=June 22, 2010|access-date=September 1, 2011|work=[[The Guardian]]|title=Werner Herzog: a killer at the table|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/jun/22/werner-herzog-david-lynch|location=London|archive-date=February 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140212235304/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/jun/22/werner-herzog-david-lynch|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2009, Lynch had plans to direct a documentary on [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]] consisting of interviews with people who knew him,<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report_david-lynch-to-shoot-film-about-tm-guru-maharishi-mahesh-yogi-in-india_1313317 |title=David Lynch to shoot film about TM guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India |work=Daily News & Analysis |date=November 18, 2009 |access-date=November 29, 2010 |archive-date=November 21, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091121020439/http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report_david-lynch-to-shoot-film-about-tm-guru-maharishi-mahesh-yogi-in-india_1313317 |url-status=live }}</ref> but nothing came of it.

=== 2010–2019: Return to television ===
In 2010, Lynch began making guest appearances on the ''[[Family Guy]]'' spin-off ''[[The Cleveland Show]]'' as [[List of characters in the Family Guy franchise#Stoolbend residents|Gus the Bartender]]. He had been convinced to appear in the show by its lead actor, [[Mike Henry (voice actor)|Mike Henry]], a fan of Lynch who felt that his life had changed after he saw ''Wild at Heart''.<ref>{{cite web | last = Faye | first = Denis | url = http://www.wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=3802 | title = A Kinder, Gentler Family Guy | publisher = Writers Guild of America, West | access-date = November 29, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101130153215/http://wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=3802 | archive-date = November 30, 2010 | df = mdy-all }}</ref> ''[[Lady Blue Shanghai]]'' is a 16-minute promotional film written, directed and edited by Lynch for [[Dior]]. It was released on the Internet in May 2010.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Copping|first1=Nicola|date=May 14, 2010|title=David Lynch's new film for Christian Dior|url=https://www.ft.com/content/38daed66-5ecc-11df-af86-00144feab49a?mhq5j=e1|website=[[Financial Times]]|access-date=July 8, 2017}}</ref>

Lynch directed a concert by English [[new wave music|new wave]] band [[Duran Duran]] on March 23, 2011. The concert was [[Streaming media|streamed live]] on YouTube from the [[Mayan Theater]] in Los Angeles as the kickoff to the second season of ''[[Unstaged|Unstaged: An Original Series from American Express]]''. "The idea is to try and create on the fly, layers of images permeating Duran Duran on the stage", Lynch said. "A world of experimentation and hopefully some happy accidents".<ref>{{cite web | last = Lewis | first = Dave | url = http://www.hitfix.com/articles/duran-duran-david-lynch-team-for-unstaged-streaming-concert | title = Watch: David Lynch, Duran Duran team for 'Unstaged' streaming concert | website = HitFix.com | access-date = March 22, 2011 | archive-date = March 20, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110320044849/http://www.hitfix.com/articles/duran-duran-david-lynch-team-for-unstaged-streaming-concert | url-status = live }}</ref> The animated short ''I Touch a Red Button Man'', a collaboration between Lynch and the band [[Interpol (band)|Interpol]], played in the background during Interpol's concert at the [[Coachella|Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival]] in April 2011. The short, which features Interpol's song "Lights", was later made available online.<ref name="redbutton">{{cite news |title=David Lynch/Interpol Collaboration, 'I Touch A Red Button Man' (EXCLUSIVE) |first=Gazelle |last=Emami |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/13/david-lynch-interpol_n_893149.html |newspaper=[[HuffPost]] |date=July 13, 2011 |access-date=October 30, 2011 |archive-date=October 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028220832/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/13/david-lynch-interpol_n_893149.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:David Lynch and Kyle MacLachlan at the Twin Peaks Premiere 2017.jpg|thumb|Lynch (left) with [[Kyle MacLachlan]] at the 2017 premiere of [[Twin Peaks season 3|''Twin Peaks''{{'}}s third season]]]]
It was believed that Lynch was going to retire from the film industry; according to [[Abel Ferrara]], Lynch "doesn't even want to make films any more. I've talked to him about it, OK? I can tell when he talks about it."<ref>{{cite news|last=Leigh|first=Danny|title=Has David Lynch retired, or is it just a bad dream?|date=August 19, 2011|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2011/aug/19/has-david-lynch-retired|access-date=September 7, 2015|archive-date=September 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923145537/http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2011/aug/19/has-david-lynch-retired|url-status=live}}</ref> But in a June 2012 interview, Lynch said he lacked the inspiration to start a new movie project, but "If I got an idea that I fell in love with, I'd go to work tomorrow".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-david-lynch-has-no-ideas-for-a-new-film-20120622,0,3728502.story|title=David Lynch says he doesn't have any ideas for a new film|last=Zeitchik|first=Steven|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=June 22, 2012|url-status=live|archive-date=July 9, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709000918/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-david-lynch-has-no-ideas-for-a-new-film-20120622,0,3728502.story}}</ref> In September 2012, he appeared in the three-part "Late Show" arc on FX's ''[[Louie (American TV series)|Louie]]'' as Jack Dahl. In November 2012, Lynch hinted at plans for a new film while attending [[Camerimage|Plus Camerimage]] in [[Bydgoszcz]], Poland, saying, "something is coming up. It will happen but I don't know exactly when".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screendaily.com/home/blogs/david-lynch-hints-at-new-film/5049373.article?blocktitle=Diary-Blog&contentID=2048|title=David Lynch hints at new film &#124; Diary Blog|work=[[Screen International]]|publisher=[[Ascential|Top Right Group]]|last=Rosser|first=Michael|date=November 26, 2012|access-date=November 26, 2012|archive-date=March 19, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130319003723/http://www.screendaily.com/home/blogs/david-lynch-hints-at-new-film/5049373.article?blocktitle=Diary-Blog&contentID=2048|url-status=live}}</ref> At Plus Camerimage, Lynch received a lifetime achievement award and the [[Freedom of the City#Key to the city|Key to the City]] from Bydgoszcz's mayor, [[Rafał Bruski]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/-david-lynch-and-keanu-reeves-open-plus-camerimage/5049367.article|title=David Lynch and Keanu Reeves open Plus Camerimage |work=[[Screen International]]|publisher=[[Ascential|Top Right Group]]|last=Rosser|first=Michael|date=November 25, 2012|access-date=November 26, 2012|archive-date=November 28, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121128064536/http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/-david-lynch-and-keanu-reeves-open-plus-camerimage/5049367.article|url-status=live}}</ref> In a January 2013 interview, Laura Dern confirmed that she and Lynch were planning a new project,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-0115-laura-dern-20130115,0,1823315.story|title=Laura Dern's Enlightened approach|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|last=Blake|first=Meredith|date=January 15, 2013|access-date=January 17, 2013|archive-date=January 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116133845/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-0115-laura-dern-20130115,0,1823315.story|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blackbookmag.com/movies/david-lynch-and-laura-dern-have-a-mysterious-project-in-the-works-1.57069|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130213135727/http://www.blackbookmag.com/movies/david-lynch-and-laura-dern-have-a-mysterious-project-in-the-works-1.57069|archive-date=February 13, 2013|title=David Lynch and Laura Dern Have a Mysterious Project in the Works – Movies|work=[[BlackBook]]|last=Weston|first=Hilary|date=January 16, 2013|access-date=January 17, 2013}}</ref> and ''[[The New York Times]]'' later reported that Lynch was working on the script.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last1=Hoffman |first1=Claire |date=February 22, 2013 |title=David Lynch Is Back … as a Guru of Transcendental Meditation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/david-lynch-transcendental-meditation.html |url-access=registration |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130222211638/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/david-lynch-transcendental-meditation.html |archive-date=February 22, 2013 |access-date=November 22, 2020 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> ''[[Idem Paris]]'', a short documentary film about the lithographic process, was released online in February 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.slashfilm.com/david-lynch-short-film-idem-paris-recalls-the-industrial-tone-of-his-debut|title=David Lynch Short Film Idem Paris Recalls the Industrial Tone of His Debut|work=[[/Film]]|last=Fischer|first=Russ|date=February 12, 2013|access-date=February 25, 2013|archive-date=February 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215052729/http://www.slashfilm.com/david-lynch-short-film-idem-paris-recalls-the-industrial-tone-of-his-debut/|url-status=live}}</ref> On June 28, 2013, a video Lynch directed for the [[Nine Inch Nails]] song "[[Came Back Haunted]]" was released.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/nine-inch-nails-photos-preview-came-back-haunted-clip-20130627|title=Nine Inch Nails Photos Preview 'Came Back Haunted' Clip|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|first=Jon|last=Blistein|date=June 27, 2013|access-date=August 26, 2017|archive-date=June 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130629011231/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/nine-inch-nails-photos-preview-came-back-haunted-clip-20130627|url-status=live}}</ref> He also did photography for the [[Dumb Numbers]]'s self-titled album released in August 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dumbnumbers.bandcamp.com/|title=Dumb Numbers II, by Dumb Numbers|website=Dumbnumbers.bandcamp.com|access-date=July 31, 2015|archive-date=March 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307040254/http://dumbnumbers.bandcamp.com/|url-status=live}}</ref>

On October 6, 2014, Lynch confirmed via Twitter that he and Frost would start shooting a new, nine-episode season of ''[[Twin Peaks season 3|Twin Peaks]]'' in 2015, with the episodes expected to air in 2016 on [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]].<ref name="revival">{{cite web |title=Twin Peaks Revival to Air on Showtime in 2016 |url=https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/twin-peaks-revival-to-air-on-showtime-in-2016-1201322329 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |first=Cynthia |last=Littleton |date=October 6, 2014 |access-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-date=December 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214070105/http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/twin-peaks-revival-to-air-on-showtime-in-2016-1201322329/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Lynch and Frost wrote all the episodes. On April 5, 2015, Lynch announced via Twitter that the project was still alive, but he was no longer going to direct because the budget was too low for what he wanted to do.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2015/tv/news/twin-peaks-david-lych-leaves-as-director-1201466709/|title=David Lynch Says He Won't Direct the 'Twin Peaks' Revival|date=April 5, 2015|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|last=Stedman|first=Alex|url-status=live|archive-date=October 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002105739/http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/twin-peaks-david-lych-leaves-as-director-1201466709/}}</ref> On May 15, 2015, he said via Twitter that he would return to the revival, having sorted out his issues with Showtime.<ref>{{cite web|last1=McCown|first1=Alex|title=David Lynch just announced he's rejoined Showtime's ''Twin Peaks''|url=https://www.avclub.com/article/david-lynch-just-announced-hes-rejoined-showtimes--219531|website=[[The A.V. Club]]|access-date=August 3, 2016|date=May 15, 2015|archive-date=August 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801062110/http://www.avclub.com/article/david-lynch-just-announced-hes-rejoined-showtimes--219531|url-status=live}}</ref> Showtime CEO David Nevins confirmed this, announcing that Lynch would direct every episode of the revival and that the original nine episodes had been extended to 18.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Yaniz|first1=Robert Jr.|title='Twin Peaks' Revival To Resolve Questions From Previous Seasons|url=https://screenrant.com/twin-peaks-season-3-revival-showtime/|website=[[Screen Rant]]|access-date=August 3, 2016|date=August 12, 2015|archive-date=August 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804211103/http://screenrant.com/twin-peaks-season-3-revival-showtime/|url-status=live}}</ref> Filming was completed by April 2016.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Andreeva|first1=Nellie|title='Twin Peaks' Update: Premiere Set For Early 2017, David Lynch Halfway Done|url=https://deadline.com/2016/01/twin-peaks-update-premiere-date-early-2017-david-lynch-1201681533/|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|access-date=August 3, 2016|date=January 12, 2016|archive-date=August 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803073417/http://deadline.com/2016/01/twin-peaks-update-premiere-date-early-2017-david-lynch-1201681533/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Andreeva|first1=Nellie|title='Twin Peaks': Here Is the Full Cast Of David Lynch's Showtime Reboot|url=https://deadline.com/2016/04/twin-peaks-full-cast-david-lynch-showtime-series-1201743122/|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|access-date=August 3, 2016|date=April 25, 2016|archive-date=April 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425232427/http://deadline.com/2016/04/twin-peaks-full-cast-david-lynch-showtime-series-1201743122/|url-status=live}}</ref> The two-episode premiere aired on May 21, 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/twin-peaks-season-3-david-lynch-2017-2|title='Twin Peaks' is coming back after 25 years – here's everything you need to know about it|last=Snyder|first=Chris|website=[[Business Insider]]|date=February 10, 2017|access-date=February 17, 2017|archive-date=February 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218143404/http://www.businessinsider.com/twin-peaks-season-3-david-lynch-2017-2|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:David Lynch Cannes 2017.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.7|Lynch attending the [[2017 Cannes Film Festival]]]]
While doing press for ''Twin Peaks'', Lynch was again asked if he had retired from film and seemed to confirm that he had made his last feature film, responding, "Things changed a lot&nbsp;... So many films were not doing well at the box office, even though they might have been great films and the things that were doing well at the box office weren't the things that I would want to do".<ref name="never">{{cite web |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/david-lynch-on-the-return-of-twin-peaks-and-why-he-will-never-make-another-film-20170416-gvlr60.html |title=David Lynch on the Return of ''Twin Peaks'' and Why He Will Never Make Another Film |last=Idato |first=Michael |date=May 5, 2017 |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |access-date=April 16, 2020 |archive-date=May 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528063853/https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/david-lynch-on-the-return-of-twin-peaks-and-why-he-will-never-make-another-film-20170416-gvlr60.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Lynch later said that this statement had been misconstrued: "I did not say I quit cinema, simply that nobody knows what the future holds."<ref name="never-2">{{cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2017/05/david-lynch-retirement-filmmaking-1201832700/ |title=David Lynch Is Not Retiring From Filmmaking After All, But His Future Still Remains Unclear |last=Sharf |first=Zack |date=May 26, 2017 |work=[[IndieWire]] |access-date=April 16, 2020 |archive-date=August 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818024728/https://www.indiewire.com/2017/05/david-lynch-retirement-filmmaking-1201832700/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===2020–2025: Weather reports and final projects ===
Lynch did weather reports on his now-defunct website in the 2000s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By9d_0wBvLM&list=PLLqW44EeDnAs4FZDcDa0DMszVYGtYVjOK&index=1| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/By9d_0wBvLM?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By9d_0wBvLM| archive-date=September 20, 2021|title=David Lynch weather report|via = YouTube| date=April 2008 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> He returned to doing weather reports in 2020 from his apartment in Los Angeles, along with two new series, ''What is David Lynch Working on Today?'', which detailed him making collages, and ''Today's Number Is...'', in which he picked a random number from 1 to 10 each day from a jar containing ten numbered ping-pong balls. In one of his weather reports, Lynch detailed a dream he had about being a German soldier shot by an American soldier on [[D-Day]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDLD_zxiuyh1IMasq9nbjrA|title=David Lynch Theater |via=YouTube|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611145918/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDLD_zxiuyh1IMasq9nbjrA|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=David Lynch ends daily weather report by recalling dream about being a dying German soldier on D-Day|url=https://www.avclub.com/david-lynch-ends-daily-weather-report-by-recalling-drea-1843952285|last=McCarter|first=Reid|date=June 8, 2020|access-date=June 11, 2020|work=[[The AV Club]] |archive-date=June 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609163354/https://news.avclub.com/david-lynch-ends-daily-weather-report-by-recalling-drea-1843952285|url-status=live}}</ref> Most of his Weather Reports featured Lynch saying he was "thinking about" songs, including songs by [[The Beatles]], [[The Rolling Stones]], [[The Everly Brothers]], and [[The Platters]]. After his final weather report on December 16, 2022, Lynch said in an April 2023 interview that the series, along with ''What is David Lynch Working on Today?'' and ''Today's Number Is...'', would not return, adding: "Now I can sleep longer in the morning. I had to get up very early to consult the real weather bulletin. In two years I have not missed a single one."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pulver |first=Andrew |date=April 24, 2023 |title='It's all in the damn history books': David Lynch rails against the death of cinemas |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/apr/24/its-all-in-the-damn-history-books-david-lynch-rails-against-the-death-of-cinemas |access-date=June 9, 2024 |work=[[The Guardian]] |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

[[File:John Ford 3 Allan Warren.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|Lynch portrayed director [[John Ford]] ''(pictured, 1973)'' in [[Steven Spielberg]]'s ''[[The Fabelmans]]'' (2022).]]
In June 2020, Lynch rereleased his 2002 web series ''[[Rabbits (film)|Rabbits]]'' on YouTube.<ref>{{cite web|title=David Lynch Shares 2002-Era Web Series 'Rabbits' to YouTube|url=https://hypebeast.com/2020/6/david-lynch-shares-2002-era-web-series-rabbits-to-youtube|last=Zhang|first=Charlie|date=June 9, 2020|access-date=June 11, 2020|website=[[Hypebeast (website)|Hypebeast]]|archive-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611200514/https://hypebeast.com/2020/6/david-lynch-shares-2002-era-web-series-rabbits-to-youtube|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=David Lynch's creepy web series 'Rabbits' is back online|url=https://www.engadget.com/david-lynchs-creepy-web-series-rabbits-is-back-online-100002786.html|last=England|first=Rachel|date=June 10, 2020|access-date=June 11, 2020|work=[[Engadget]]|archive-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611101511/https://www.engadget.com/david-lynchs-creepy-web-series-rabbits-is-back-online-100002786.html|url-status=live}}</ref> On July 17, 2020, his store for merchandise released a set of face masks with Lynch's art on them for the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United States|COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{Cite news|title= David Lynch Now Has Line of Face Masks|url= https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/333752/studio-david-lynch-now-has-line-of-face-masks/|last=Millican|first=Josh|date=July 17, 2020|access-date=July 20, 2020|work=Dread Central|archive-date=July 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719110403/https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/333752/studio-david-lynch-now-has-line-of-face-masks/|url-status=live}}</ref> In February 2022, it was announced that Lynch had been cast in [[Steven Spielberg]]'s semi-autobiographical film ''[[The Fabelmans]]'' in a role ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' called "a closely guarded secret". Lynch played [[John Ford]], whom the young Spielberg met, an encounter Spielberg considers formative. [[Gabriel LaBelle]] played Spielberg's alter ego [[Sammy Fabelman]], and Lynch as Ford offers the young man advice on filmmaking.<ref name="Murphy-Variety-2022">{{cite web |last1=Murphy |first1=J. Kim |title=David Lynch Joins Cast of Steven Spielberg's 'The Fabelmans' (Exclusive) |url=https://variety.com/2022/film/news/david-lynch-the-fabelmans-steven-spielberg-1235172006/ |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=February 4, 2022 |access-date=February 5, 2022}}</ref> Lynch and the cast were nominated for the [[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://deadline.com/2023/01/2023-sag-awards-nominations-list-film-tv-nominees-screen-actors-guild-1235216790/|title= SAG Awards Nominations: The Complete List|website= [[Deadline Hollywood]]|date= January 11, 2023|accessdate= January 21, 2023}}</ref> [[J. Hoberman]] wrote: "Mr. Lynch never made a conventional, crowd-pleasing Hollywood movie. But in 2022, he agreed to a cameo in one: Mr. Spielberg's autobiographical feature ''The Fabelmans'', where the enigmatic if not eldritch Mr. Lynch was cast as John Ford, the maker of westerns and the grand old curmudgeon of American cinema. It was a sentimental gesture that one can only call Lynchian."<ref name=Hoberman/>