David Lynch Almost Directed Return Of The Jedi; We’re Really Glad That He Didn’t
It would have been a really bad idea.
Arguably the greatest ‘sliding doors’ moments in cinema history — yes, greater than Sliding Doors — occurred when George Lucas, perhaps aware of his waning powers, asked David Lynch to direct Return Of The Jedi, the third and final instalment of the original Star Wars trilogy.
Apparently Lynch had already committed to film Dune, but the apocryphal story is that Lynch, having jumped through hoops just to meet Lucas, was royally pissed off when Lucas took him to a restaurant that only served salads. That, and Wookies give him migraines, or something. Dune turned out to be a flop, but after seeing the deeply unsettling mock trailer below (courtesy of YouTube user C-Spit), I’m sure that you’ll agree that everything turned out for the best:
Heavy, right? Lynch devotees, who really should have a collective noun by now, will have a field day playing ‘spot the reference’ — there are at least three Twin Peaks references alone.
Beat that, young Padawan.
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