It looks like the two-episode world premiere of the “Twin Peaks” revival at the Cannes Film Festival just got a little bit hotter. It has long been known that David Lynch has desired to keep nearly everything about the eighteen upcoming episodes completely secret, with Showtime going along with eschewing standard trailers for the show. However, most assumed that going along with the debut on the Croisette, critics would at least get some kind of sneak peek before the show arrives later this month. That won’t be the case.
Variety reveals that “none of the 18 episodes will be released in advance to critics,” which means that whoever manages to elbow their way into the screening at Cannes, will be among the very select few globally to see “Twin Peaks” early. This isn’t an entirely unprecedented move. HBO did the same thing last year with “Game Of Thrones” season six, and coverage of the show didn’t suffer for it, and certainly, Showtime is hardly worried about grabbing headlines for “Twin Peaks.” It just means that both fans and pundits will all be on the same page together, as the mysteries of the next batch of episodes unfold.
The tactic will also ensure secrecy remains paramount surrounding “Twin Peaks,” and in the trade’s extensive feature on the show, you won’t find many hard details about what’s on the way. However, Showtime CEO David Nevins does let it slip that David Lynch’s FBI Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole is a “pretty prominent” character. “I probably said too much,” he quipped.
Additionally, Nevins said, “There are different threads in different parts of the U.S. It does not go outside the U.S., but it is in multiple locations in the U.S.”
As for Lynch, he obviously remains secretive but says that “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” is a big clue to what happens next in the series, so perhaps it’s time to catch up or rewatch the movie. One topic the director wasn’t cagey about was the state of cinema, which isn’t a surprise given he recently said he’ll never direct another feature film.
“Feature films are suffering a kind of bad time right now, in my opinion, because the feature films that play in theaters are blockbusters. That seems to fill the theaters, but the art-house cinema is gone. If I made a feature film, it might play in L.A. and New York, a couple of other places, for a week in a little part of a cineplex, and then it would go who knows where,” Lynch said.
“I built [‘Twin Peaks’] to be on the big screen. It will be on a smaller screen, but it’s built for the big screen,” he continued. “You want a feature film to play on a big screen with big sound, utilizing all the best technology to make a world. It’s really tough after all that work to not get it in the theater. So I say that cable television is a new art house, and it’s good that it’s here.”
It’s also good to have David Lynch back, with eighteen hours of “Twin Peaks” for fans to sink their teeth into.
