Fin: Yes, this is probably it for David Lynch's career

Plus, Vince Vaughn and R-rated comedies, who should play Tim Walz, and more in this week’s notes column.

Many fans of David Lynch have been hoping he has at least one more film in him for the last few years. 

Lynch’s last completed feature was Inland Empire, which came out in 2006 and barely got a theatrical release. His last major project was Twin Peaks: The Return, which aired in 2017 and had “career-capping magnum opus” written all over it. He made What Did Jack Do?, that funny Netflix short film with the monkey, which arrived in early 2020.  

A couple of years ago there was a strange rumor that Lynch had a film he’d secretly shot that was debuting at Cannes, but that turned out not true.

This week, we got some bad news about those prospects. Lynch revealed in an interview with Sight and Sound that due to emphysema and related fears of COVID, he can no longer “go out.” 

“I’ve gotten emphysema from smoking for so long and so I’m homebound whether I like it or not. It would be very bad for me to get sick, even with a cold,” Lynch said. 

Lynch later released a statement that “I will never retire” and raised the possibility that he would still be able to direct movies remotely.

But I don’t see Lynch — who is 78 years old, and hasn’t been able to get a film funded for nearly two decades — getting another movie off the ground when he’s not able to either visit the set or promote it. 

He has, however, had a great and one-of-a-kind career, and he’s one of those filmmakers in which almost every one of his films has gained in esteem over time. I mean, people even love his Dune at this point.