It's all happening, people! Out of TCA's Showtime panel today, good news has come down that David Lynch will be directing every single episode of Twin Peaks Season 3, which will have 9 or more episodes and is set to premiere on Showtime in 2016. This would be the hugely influential filmmaker's first major work since 2007's Inland Empire. Showtime head David Nevins was at the panel and said that production on Lynch and co-creator Mark Frost's follow-up to their landmark CBS series will begin production this September. Here's what Nevins had to say about the intensely anticipated series. Here's what Nevins had to say about the series and the possibility of a 2016 release date:
“You should be optimistic that the people that you want will be there, and then there will be some surprises in addition.”
“I’m hoping we make 2016. It’s not clear. It’s ultimately going to be in their control. They’re going to shoot the whole thing and then they’ll start posting… but I’m hoping sooner rather than later.”
As many of you no doubt remember, there was a bit of drama about Lynch's involvement in the project, stemming from reported arguments between Showtime and Lynch over the budget and home-video release of the series. At TCA, however, Nevins was quick to state that Lynch's involvement was hardly ever in jeopardy:
"I never had any doubts we were going to get him back. This was a huge priority project to me. It became clear that it was going to take more than nine episodes, which was the originally planned for and budgeted length of the series. I really wanted to get David to direct the whole thing, and he wanted to direct the whole thing. We had to work out the details."
When asked about his interactions with Lynch and the new series' storyline, Nevins proved pretty tight-lipped but had a few things to say:
"I promised David...that I wouldn't say anything, certainly not going into what the content looks like. I feel like its very satisfying. There's certain basic questions that I had at the end of the original three seasons given where Agent Cooper is, and I think those questions get answered."
"My interaction with David has been very 1:1...it's been very private. I actually love working with David. It's all very direct."
Nevins also mentioned that the series will roll out like "one big movie," but honestly, it's the new David Lynch and that's all that matters. Even for someone who wasn't completely sold on the hallucinatory miasma of Inland Empire, this has now become the most anticipated project in 2016 in either film or television. Considering how quickly things like this can get knotted up (see: David Fincher's two recent defunct projects at HBO), however, let's all just walk on eggshells until production is underway.
