More than 450 items from the personal archive of David Lynch, who passed away in January 2025, were sold this past Wednesday at an estate auction. While memorabilia from beloved films like Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway drew high bids, the most coveted item was related to one of the late filmmaker’s famous unfinished projects.
According to a press release from Julien’s Auctions, which hosted the event with Turner Classic Movies, a collection of 11 scripts from Lynch’s lost film Ronnie Rocket: The Absurd Mystery of the Strange Forces of Existence sold for $195,000, making it the highest-selling item of the event.
Lynch began developing Ronnie Rocket in the late 1970s and returned to it throughout the ’80s, but repeatedly shelved it while working on other films like The Elephant Man, Dune, and Blue Velvet. Still, he never fully gave up hope, telling writer David Breskin in 2013 that it was not a dead project.
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Other notable items from the auction included a Lost Highway script that also went for $195,000, a three-script bundle from the making of Mulholland Drive ($104,000), a red leather director’s chair with his name emblazoned on the back ($91,000), and scripts from the Twin Peaks pilot with the original title, Northwest Passage, crossed out ($91,000).
In addition, a group of scripts from the Twin Peaks prequel film, Fire Walk with Me, fetched $78,000, and a personal 35mm print of Eraserhead sold for $52,000. Lynch’s personal items drew heavy interest as well, with his La Marzocco home espresso machine and 2012 Danny Ferrington custom five-neck console steel guitar selling for $45,500 and $39,000, respectively.
All told, the auctioned items brought in $4.25 million. See a full breakdown of “The David Lynch Collection” here.
Lynch passed away on January 16th, 2025, at the age of 78 from cardiac arrest after suffering from emphysema since 2020.
Editor’s Note: Read Michael Roffman’s essay on David Lynch’s lasting, singular legacy.
Content shared from consequence.net.