Falling somewhere in between totally make-believe, fairytale project that doesn’t exist and perhaps now the worst kept secret in Hollywood—at least in the last week (though even this is an exaggerated joke)—it appears that the long-rumored David Lynch project is real, done and probably debuting at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The Cannes lineup announcement is this Thursday, April 14 (super early, 4am ET), and in a very recent Cannes prediction piece, Variety comes closer than anyone so far to confirming the project exists.
READ MORE: Report: David Lynch Has A New Project In The Works At Netflix
“Most surprisingly, according to two well-informed sources, there will even be a David Lynch feature film which has been completely off the radar and stars Laura Dern — either as a cameo or a supporting role — along with some other Lynch regulars,” Variety wrote.
While not named by the trade, Lynch’s project was long-rumored to be something called, “Wisteria,” but the title’s never been officially confirmed let alone announced. Of the other rumored “Lynch regulars,” Naomi Watts’ name has been thrown around for more than a year.
Variety repeats much of this information, which is still a surprise given Lynch suggested he had retired from feature-length filmmaking in recent years.
“The feature could either be a standalone movie that the “Mulholland Drive” helmer shot under the radar or an extended pilot of his upcoming series “Wisteria” which is rumored to star Lynch regulars including Laura Dern and Naomi Watts.”
Rumors of a new David Lynch project started almost two years ago when Lynch was spotted at Netflix, presumably for a meeting. This caused a lot of conjecture and games of telephone, and for months what came out the other side was specious reports of Lynch making a new series for Netflix. Some even thought it was a fourth season of “Twin Peaks.”
Follow-up reports then suggested Netflix was no longer in the picture, and given Cannes’ current rule of no Netflix films because of the way they do not provide a theatrical window in France before they go onto streaming—one of the Cannes organizer’s hard and fast rules—it’s pretty obvious that “Wisteria,” or whatever the project is ultimately called, will not be Netflix related.
The Lynch rumors flared up last week when reporter Kaleem Aftab mentioned a tease (which is surprisingly not deleted) and sent cinephiles into a guessing-game tizzy. Either way, it seems pretty certain that something by David Lynch will be announced this week for Cannes’ first major line-up announcement.
Other details in the Variety report as part of their Cannes predictions? Well, David Cronenberg’s new film “Crimes of the Future” starring Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart and Viggo Mortensen seems to be a certainty, but that’s not much of a surprise given its Cro’s first film in ages and he said he was aiming for Cannes months ago.
Kelly Reichardt’s “Showing Up,” starring Michelle Williams, seems to be a sure bet, as is George Miller’s “Three Thousand Years of Longing” with Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba. Another strong bet, which seems like a certainty regardless given it was nearly done last year and he won the Palme d’Or in the past, Ruben Ostlund’s “Triangle Of Sadness” seems to likely premiere. Starring Woody Harrelson, the film is apparently at a three-hour cut at the moment.
Lastly, Variety says they are hearing that Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi (“A Separation” and “The Salesman”), could be the jury president which is crazy considering the recent controversy. Farhadi has been accused of plagiarism for his most recent film “A Hero” which won Cannes’ Grand Prize in 2021. The situation is still in flux, but super complicated. At first, it was reported that Farhadi was found guilty of plagiarism, but apparently that decision is still pending. Vulture has a great breakdown of the play by play.
