Lynch leaves Showtime’s Twin Peaks

US cablenet Showtime’s revival of cult drama series Twin Peaks is in doubt after creator David Lynch revealed he would be pulling out of directing duties due to budget issues.

Twin Peaks’ return is in doubt

Twin Peaks had been slated to return to screens in 2016, with all nine episodes to be written by the creators of the original series, Lynch and Mark Frost.

However, Lynch tweeted yesterday that he would be leaving the show “after one year and four months of negotiations” because “not enough money was offered to do the script the way I felt it needed to be done.”

Four-time Oscar nominee Lynch had been due to direct every episode of the new series, which was to be set in the present day and would “continue the lore of the original series,” according to Showtime.

The US network said in a statement it was “saddened” by Lynch’s exit, adding that it had been working on “solutions” on the “few remaining deal points” with the director. Showtime also said it would “continue to hold out hope” that Lynch and Frost could return.

Lynch added: “This weekend I started to call actors to let them know I would not be directing. Twin Peaks may still be very much alive at Showtime.”

The first two seasons of Twin Peaks aired in 1990 and 1991 on ABC and followed the inhabitants of a quaint town in the US Pacific Northwest who are stunned by the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer. FBI agent Dale Cooper, played by Kyle MacLachlan, is brought in to investigate the case, which becomes increasingly surreal and twisted.