---------

Pictured are only three of the titular six men, fwiw - and only a fraction of its maybe 45s runtime.

Seeing some really sick art today.

Since the below news broke I've seen some minimize the artistry of Lynch's writing. It calls to mind Paul Schrader's story of being asked by De Laurentiis to rewrite Lynch's unfilmed BLUE VELVET script & replying it was "one of the best scripts I’d ever read...there was no way I could improve it."

Jen Lynch, David's daughter, recently affirmed that UNRECORDED NIGHT's scripts "are likely to be published by myself and my siblings as a way to offer what could not be realized, to those who would have loved it.... we are great fans of our father’s work, and wish to see it shared and celebrated..."

First reported by Boston Hassle (see bostonhassle.com/interview-sa...).
Sabrina has also said Lynch wrote NIGHT by going "through all of his old writing... he took things that had already been written and kind of combined them, while also writing new stuff" (per cinemafemme.com/2025/05/23/h...).

David Lynch's producer Sabrina Sutherland has revealed that his final work, the 20-25 episode UNRECORDED NIGHT, was set to star Toby Jones, son of his longtime collaborator Freddie Jones. Lynch passed away shortly before he was set to meet w/ Netflix to discuss possibly resuming pre-production

Fwiw, my read of what has been said is that Netflix, despite its myriad faults, doesn’t seem to be at fault here. The pandemic shut down the production initially, & then David’s emphysema did. At least, as far as I can tell…

Working with David Lynch: 'He was a visionary ahead of his time' As a new David Lynch season hits the BFI Southbank, his producer and collaborator Sabrina Sutherland reveals what it was like to work with the film icon

From The Standard: www.standard.co.uk/culture/film....
It was publicly known in 2020 that Lynch had copyrighted 13 "episodes" of UNRECORDED NIGHT, but I believe this is the first indication of its expected length. 20-25 hrs exceeds the runtime of every other project solo-scripted by him, combined.

In new interview looking back one year after David Lynch's death, Sabrina Sutherland adds a bit more information about his final (unproduced) project, UNRECORDED NIGHT: he expected it to be "maybe 20-25 hours" in length, and was "very close" to trying to move forward with it when he passed.

FWIW, I've heard from someone who is in a position to know that this was definitely not written by David Lynch, famous filmmaker and artist. (It may have been written by A David Lynch in 1971, just not him.)

Yeah I’m suspicious. There’s no record of him being at that address. The way he refers to “the College” in the letter makes it sound like he’s a Georgetown student. And after hearing so much about Lynch’s early creative work (like Gardenback) it feels odd we’d have never heard a peep about this.

FWIW, they're also selling another copy of Lynch's (to-date publicly unreleased) screenplay THE DREAM OF THE BOVINE, from the estate of Harry Dean Stanton. They include a sample page of the screenplay, the first ever publicly released excerpt from it, AFAIK.
Dumb wordplay galore!

I don't think someone would make up something this specific. And it seems quite a coincidence if a totally different David Lynch were responsible for writing this, and it's all a big mix-up... and yet! That's what I lean towards: two David Lynches. A David doppelgänger.

Anyone else have thoughts?

They claim Lynch sent the script to an independent producer (and Georgetown prof.) in '71 while seeking to stir up interest in it. They include Lynch's purported cover letter; they acknowledge the signature is not his handwriting, but speculate someone secretarial helped him with the cover letter.

David Lynch | "Volunteers" Rare Early Screenplay from 1971

If true, it would seemingly be Lynch's first full-length completed script, done between his short THE GRANDMOTHER and the start of his work on ERASERHEAD. I've never heard of Lynch having worked on anything remotely like this, so AFAIK it'd be breaking news.
www.juliensauctions.com/en/items/210...

Julien's is auctioning a screenplay titled VOLUNTEERS it claims David Lynch wrote in 1971; it's purportedly "a military satire" that "follows a group of young men who have been drafted to go to Vietnam" & engage in "various hijinks" to get out of it. I don't know if I believe them...

‘Dracula’ by Radu Jude, David Lynch-Exec Produced ‘Happy Worker’ Set for Locarno Lineup New movies from Abdelletif Kechiche, Vincent Grashaw, and Ben Rivers will also premiere at the Swiss fest, with artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro saying: "Let's regain the world one film at a time."

Fwiw: THE LEGEND OF THE HAPPY WORKER (dir. by Twin Peaks editor Duwayne Dunham, exec produced by David Lynch, from a screenplay (by others) Lynch gave to Dunham post-BLUE VELVET) is finally being released, after wrapping filming in 2018. Co-stars Amy Shiels.
www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...

I was hoping to get a chance to ask Hurley that (understanding that he may well not know since that was before his time) but never got an opportunity, alas.

Which character that voice is supposed to be on the other side of Mr. C’s call is one of The Return’s thornier questions, and certainly isn’t getting resolved in this thread (indeed, its ambiguity is part of the point), but it’s nonetheless interesting to receive new information about it 8 yrs later

That angle is particularly relevant to The Return given its oneiric throughlines.

In Hurley’s case, the fact that he was the Sound/Music Supervisor is of additional salience, given the seemingly critical (if nebulous) role “sounds” play in The Return’s web of meaning.

Lynch appreciated the suggestive resonance of having creators of the film themselves appear as characters—think, e.g., Cori Glazer, Script Supervisor for Mulholland Dr., appearing as the Blue-Haired “Silencio” lady. Or Lynch as Gordon Cole, the dreamer who lives inside the dream.

While fans have previously guessed at any number of performers providing these voices with some technical manipulation (Lynch himself, Sheryl Lee, Grace Z., Al S., Sherilyn F., etc.), I think there’s a certain Lynchian logic in them being Hurley, the TP Sound & Music Supervisor…

Hurley added that there are “quite a number of things” he voiced in The Return, mentioning the voice of Johnny Horne’s teddy bear, but leaving the rest unspecified.

For what it’s worth, my guess is that Hurley also provides the voice for The Evolution of the Arm…

Hurley: “That’s kind of me there. And that was always a confusing plot point to me, because I’m thinking it needed to be Phillip - he’s supposedly calling Phillip Jeffries… It’s so hard sort of figuring out his stuff in general, but I feel like some of those clues are like there…”

A nugget that real Twin Peaks heads may find interesting: over the weekend at Metrograph, Dean Hurley revealed (I believe for the first time) who performs “the mysterious voice [speaking to Mr. C] on the other end of the box in the hotel room, after shooting Darya” in Part 2: him.

TP Sound/Music Supervisor Dean Hurley at Metrograph’s Twin Peaks (2017) screening: “[Mixing TP] I got a call from [David Lynch], he was just like, ‘I listened to it on my computer speakers & IT FUCKING SUCKS, WE NEED TO FIX ALL OF THIS!’ Filled w fervor, he wanted everyone to experience *the thing*”

More from Kyle (via NPR's Wild Card) re: his last meeting w Lynch:
"He loved a chocolate croissant...So we'd go to Porto's, a great bakery in the valley, & get some croissant there & bring it back, open up the box, & he'd be like, 'YEAH!'...he'd just stuff it in <makes gobbling sounds>. So much fun.

Peter Deming on Lynch's unfinished projects: "In the time I knew him, there were half a dozen projects that almost got off the ground, & I never found out exactly why they didn’t, but I know it’s down to control. If he doesn’t get final cut, he won’t do it."
bsky.app/profile/fate...

Peter Deming on UNRECORDED NIGHT: "We went on one location scout, David hired a produdction designer, & was talking to Laura [Dern] & Naomi [Watts] about parts in it, & then COVID happened.... I know Jennifer [Lynch] & the kids are talking about publishing it as a book."
bsky.app/profile/fate...

Kyle MacLachlan on his last mtg w/ David Lynch: "He was very much about the Next Thing, & trying to figure out a way to direct, but to do it remotely. And that was gonna be an option. Certainly he was not in the best of health, but he was like, We've got more work to do." www.npr.org/transcripts/...