The David Lynch Projects That Never Got Made, From ‘Ronnie Rocket’ to ‘Dune Messiah’ and ‘Wisteria’

variety.com:

David Lynch transformed the landscape of cinema with films like “Blue Velvet” and “Mulholland Drive,” and changed the parameters of television with “Twin Peaks.” From one project to the next, he repeatedly merged the surreal and nightmarish with the wholesome and quaint, luxuriating in the grey areas between an idyllic portrait of smalltown Americana and the danger and mystery lurking beneath it.

But almost as notable as his filmography, which was more selective than many auteurs his age, was the number of projects he was attached to or rumored to be considering, including adaptations of books like Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” and bestseller “The White Hotel,” and even a meeting with George Lucas about the prospect of helming “Return of the Jedi.” Many of these unrealized projects featured themes — or like “Mulholland Drive,” even started in different incarnations — that were revived or reimagined for other projects years later.

Others originated with frankly outlandish “Lynchian” ideas such as “three guys who used to be cows, hanging around Van Nuys (“Dream of the Bovine”) or “a bunch of people digging a hole” (“The Happy Worker.”) It’s not surprising studios — much less audiences — weren’t ready for some of these projects.

But after Lynch’s death Thursday, it’s worth luxuriating in speculation about what they might have become, even if we’ll never know which might have joined the canon of avant garde classics from this singular filmmaker.