Update: Unfortunately, it seems that we might have to wait a little longer for that new David Lynch movie. The man himself told Entertainment Weekly that he has no new film coming out at Cannes. “That’s a total rumor,” Lynch said. “So there you are. It is not happening. I don’t have a project. I have nothing at Cannes. It’s unfortunate. It got built up that people thought, ‘Oh, that’d be nice.’ But there is something new, but it’s not mine. I don’t know whose it is. They say there’s something new at Cannes, and they don’t say whose it is, and some people thought it was my film, but it’s not. So we’ll wait and see, and see whose it is.“
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It’s somewhat surprising that we haven’t had a new David Lynch movie since Inland Empire in 2006, but that long drought might be at an end… and sooner than we think. According to Variety, the upcoming Cannes Film Festival might include a new project from David Lynch which has flown entirely under the radar.
Nothing is official, but the new David Lynch movie is said to include Laura Dern, either in a supporting role or as a cameo, and some of Lynch’s other regulars. Suppose the project doesn’t turn out to be a movie he shot in secret, in that case, it’s also possible that it could be an extended pilot for his upcoming series, Wisteria, which is rumoured to involve Laura Dern and Naomi Watts. It was said that Wisteria was in development for Netflix when rumblings of the project first emerged, but the streaming service doesn’t seem to be involved now. Perhaps Lynch has transformed Wisteria into something different, just as Mulholland Drive was initially intended to be a pilot for a TV series before executives rejected it. The 75th Cannes Film Festival will run from May 17-28 and is said to include David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, Joseph Kosinski’s Top Gun: Maverick, and much more.
Although it’s been some time since David Lynch released a feature film, he has been active in other areas. He’s released a handful of short films and shot several music videos and is set to appear in The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg’s upcoming semi-autobiographical project that draws upon his time growing up in Arizona The film stars Michelle Williams and Paul Dano as characters influenced by Spielberg’s own parents, with Seth Rogen playing a role based on Spielberg’s uncle, and newcomer Gabriel LaBelle playing a young aspiring filmmaker based on Spielberg himself. Julia Butters, Judd Hirsch, Sam Rechner, Oakes Fegley, Chloe East, Julia Butters, Jeannie Berlin, Robin Bartlett, Jonathan Hadary, and Isabelle Kusman will also appear in The Fabelmans. Steven Spielberg is currently in post-production on The Fabelmans which will be released by Universal Pictures on November 23, 2022.