David Lynch has revealed that after decades as a director, he is now “homebound” amid an emphysema diagnosis.
The 78-year-old auteur told Sight & Sound magazine (via The Independent) that he cannot leave his house due to his weakened immune system. However, the “Mulholland Drive” and “Twin Peaks” auteur is open to directing remotely “if it comes to it.”
“I’ve gotten emphysema from smoking for so long and so I’m homebound whether I like it or not. I can’t go out,” Lynch said. “Because of Covid, It would be very bad for me to get sick, even with a cold.”
Lynch added that he “can only walk a short distance before” he is “out of oxygen.”
Emphysema, which is also referred to as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is predicted to be the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2030, according to the World Health Organization.
But while Lynch’s news makes another film or TV series from him seem less likely, he did not rule out a return to filmmaking if he could find a safe way to do it.
“I would do it [direct] remotely if it comes to it,” he said, albeit adding, “I wouldn’t like that so much.”
Lynch directed his last feature film, “Inland Empire,” in 2006. His most recent screen project was “Twin Peaks: The Return,” which aired on Showtime in 2017. But he continues to stay busy with creative projects in other mediums, including painting and music.
Lynch recently debuted a partially animated music video for “Sublime Eternal Love,” which he directed as part of new collaborative album “Cellophane Memories” with “The Return” star and “Inland Empire” soundtrack contributor Chyrstabell. Lynch’s album was released August 2.
To Sight & Sound, Lynch also revealed that he remains hopeful that his unproduced screenplay “Antelope Don’t Run No More” will make it to the big screen someday.
“Well, we don’t know what the future will bring,” Lynch said. “But we remain hopeful.”
Lynch was previously set to shoot a Netflix series known as “Unrecorded Night” in 2020 before the show was scrapped due to the pandemic, according to Lynch’s longtime producer Sabrina Sutherland.
“Unrecorded Night was a non-‘Twin Peaks’ series that was going to shoot at Netflix but was canceled when the pandemic hit,” Sutherland said during an online Q&A for Lynch fan site Tulpa Forum. “There’s always a chance we can pick it up again, but David has been enjoying his artwork and music endeavors, so we haven’t gone back to it.”
Sutherland added that Lynch is also restoring his film catalog for Criterion, as he reflects on his career.
“He feels that he as the director should be the one making sure everything is correct rather than just allowing the distribution company to make those technical and artistic decisions,” Sutherland said. “He has loved using DolbyVision for his film projects as well as other new technical advances to improve the digital look to make the film look like it should. Some of the old standard-def DVDs are not good now in comparison.”
While Lynch’s days of working on set might sadly be behind him, he has recently made an effort to pivot into animation, which can be done remotely. He recently pitched Netflix on his long-gestating animated film “Snootworld,” which he co-wrote with “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “The Addams Family” scribe Caroline Thompson.
“Just recently I thought someone might be interested in getting behind this so I presented it to Netflix in the last few months but they rejected it,” the “Blue Velvet” auteur told Deadline in April 2024. “‘Snootworld’ is kind of an old fashioned story and animation today is more about surface jokes. Old fashioned fairytales are considered groaners: apparently people don’t want to see them. It’s a different world now and it’s easier to say no than to say yes.”
He added, “I’ve never really done a straight animation but with computers today it’s possible to do some spectacular things.”
