Why David Lynch turned down the chance to direct ‘Star Wars’
Widely recognised as one of the most important auteurs of the last 50 years or so, David Lynch is a bonafide visionary. Forever changing the landscape of cinematic surrealism through masterpieces like Eraserhead and Mulholland Drive, Lynch’s strikingly original artistic sensibilities redefined the medium and inspired multiple generations of artists to think outside the box. In the process, he pushed the art form to heights it hadn’t reached before.
While Lynch’s oeuvre is widely beloved, and he was rightly dubbed the “first populist surrealist” by Pauline Kael, the American filmmaker’s output didn’t exactly capture the mainstream consciousness like a commercial vehicle such as Star Wars. Interestingly, Lynch was invited by George Lucas to direct the third instalment in the series, but the Twin Peaks director turned the opportunity down because it didn’t really appeal to him.
During a conversation, Lynch revealed: “I was asked by George to come up and see him and talk to him about directing what would be the third Star Wars. And I had next door to zero interest. But I always admired George. George is a guy who does what he loves. And I do what I love. The difference is, what George loves makes hundreds of billions of dollars. So I thought I should go up and at least visit with him. And it was incredible.”
Continuing his description of the encounter, he added: “I had to go to this building in L.A. first. And I had to get a special credit card, and I had to get special keys. A letter came, and a map. Then I went to the airport, and I flew up. They had a rental car all ready for me. Keys. Everything was set. I was to drive to this place. I came into an office. And there was George. He talked with me for a little bit. Then he says, ‘I want to show you something.'”
Unfortunately for Lucas, Lynch had a headache throughout the trip, and it became increasingly worse as the Star Wars creator introduced Lynch to creatures from the cinematic universe, like Wookies. After the tour, Lucas took Lynch out in his Ferrari for lunch, but by the end of their meeting, he was so put off by everything that he went to a phone booth and started panicking on a call with his agent, who reassured him that he wouldn’t have to make a Star Wars movie.
Looking back at the experience, Lynch admitted that it was a serious commercial opportunity, but he wouldn’t have been able to do anything with the material. He commented: “[Lucas] invented everything about it. But he doesn’t really love directing. So someone else did direct that film. But I called my lawyer and told him I wasn’t going to do it. And he said, ‘You just lost, I don’t know how many millions of dollars.’ But it’s OK.”
Watch the interview below.
