Six months since we lost visionary director David Lynch, an auction including the filmmaker’s director’s chair, art and his personal 35mm print of Eraserhead went up for grabs this week. With hefty price tags, naturally.
Nearly 450 items from Lynch’s personal collection were auctioned at the Peninsula Beverly Hills in Los Angeles. With hundreds of bidders attending in person and online, the sale generated a total of $4.25million (€3.69m).
The highlight of the auction was the sale of scripts from Lynch’s unfinished film project Ronnie Rocket: The Absurd Mystery of the Strange Forces of Existence, which eventually went for $195,000 (approx. €169,000).
Other notable items sold were a Twin Peaks-themed mug owned by the coffee-loving director, which went for $11,700 (€10,150) and the aforementioned personalised director’s chair, which sold for $91,000 (€79,000).
When the auction was announced, Catherine Williamson, the managing director of entertainment at Julien’s Auctions, said: “These historical and cherished pieces reflecting David Lynch’s singular artistic vision, as well as his passions and pursuits ranging from his director’s chair, espresso machine to his guitar, record collections and Twin Peaks style decor, come directly from the home of the visionary artist whose enigmatic films stirred our most imaginative and collective surreal dreams.”
Known for classics such as the TV show Twin Peaks, as well as films like The Elephant Man and Mulholland Drive, Lynch died at his daughter’s home in Los Angeles in January, after being evacuated during the city’s wildfires. He was 78 years old.
At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, tributes poured in for the legendary director, including French singer Mylène Farmer’s moving homage during the opening ceremony.
There has also been much chatter this month surrounding a Netflix project Lynch intended to make before his death, titled Unrecorded Night.
The mystery series was comissioned by Netflix and started pre-production. However, it was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and was ultimately shelved.
Netflix chief Ted Sarandos revealed that Lynch had pitched a limited series “filled with mystery and risks”, and a new interview with Peter Deming, Lynch’s collaborator on many projects including Twin Peaks: The Return, unveiled more details.
Speaking to The Film Stage about Unrecorded Night, Deming said: “It was going to be a lot of episodes, because David really liked what he called ‘the continuing story’. I really love the feature stuff, but he was like, ‘I’m not going to make any more movies. I’m just going to make longer stories because I love the longer story’.”
Deming added, regarding the script: “It took me three sittings to read it because it was so thick, but it was definitely not Twin Peaks. It was definitely a really interesting… mystery, I would say. Yeah, it’s too bad. It really is. Because it would’ve been good”.
We don’t doubt him for a second.
