Ever wonder what happens when the cosmic chaos of Neptune—planet of the surreal and mysterious—aligns with the oddball genius of David Lynch? Last week, the universe answered with a mind-bending auction that scooped up $4.25 million worth of Lynch’s personal curiosities—from annotated scripts of unrealized dreams to an espresso machine caffeinating the imagination. It was more than just memorabilia; it was a galaxy of Lynch’s quirky essence, tangled with fans and a few unexpected cameos (Eli Roth, anyone?) vying for a piece of cinematic history. So, as the stars twinkle above, casting their strange light on lost scripts and incense holders, ask yourself: if you could own a fragment of this surreal world, would you dare to bid? LEARN MORE
An auction of items owned, used and tinkered with by David Lynch netted $4.25 million last week, with items ranging from screenplays, furniture, art, and much more.
Last week, Julien’s Auctions (in partnership with Turner Classic Movies) had 441 items up for bidding, with David Lynch fans attending both in person and virtually. When it was all said and done, the estate brought in more than the entire budget of David Lynch’s final film, Inland Empire. As for which items took in the most money, that would be the screenplays. The top earner on that front with $195,000 was a collection of 11 scripts for Lynch’s unproduced Ronnie Rocket: The Absurd Mystery of the Strange Forces of Existence, one of which is annotated. At the exact same price was a copy of Lynch’s Lost Highway script, which was estimated to fetch $200-300.
Outside of screenplays, the David Lynch auction also saw one of his director chairs going for $91,000, an incense holder made by Lynch himself at $52,000 and his personal espresso machine at $45,000. Considering Lynch was a renowned coffee fiend, it’s no surprise it took in 15 times the estimate. One of the cooler items was prop menus from Mulholland Drive’s Winkie’s. On the lower end of sold items was an unopened atmospheric water generator, which, at $910, is quite the bargain if I do say so myself and I can’t wait for it to arrive at my front door next week.
As the auction shows, David Lynch’s personal collection was extremely well-curated. A fun fact is that Eli Roth was one of the people tasked with its upkeep decades ago. He even once revealed that he lifted items for himself, only returning them after Lynch said they would eventually be sold. One of those items was actually a director’s chair, so the winning bidder on this auction may have taken home an item owned by both David Lynch and Eli Roth.
David Lynch passed away in January at the age of 78, leaving behind an unmatched, wholly unique style and body of work. Despite that legacy, there is, sadly, a wealth of films and TV shows that the world will never see.
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