Why David Lynch’s ‘Twin Peaks’ Film, ‘Eraserhead’ Are Getting Their First Theatrical Runs in Russia

Russian distributor Russian World Vision is releasing theatrically restored versions of David Lynch’s Eraserhead, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me and Lost Highway, timing the cinema release to the airing of the revival of cult series Twin Peaks in May.

“David Lynch has been viewed as one of the most original directors in Russia, just like elsewhere,” a representative for Russian World Vision told The Hollywood Reporter, adding that the movies will be screened on about 40 screens in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities.

This will be a limited release for Russia, but nothing even at that scale has ever been done in the past.

“[T]he release of Lynch’s movies in Russia is a major event as his first movies had only very few, mostly festival screenings here and television airings,” the rep added.

Lynch enjoys cult status in Russia, even though his earlier movies were never released in the country as communication with the West was very limited under the Communists, and later, in the 1990s, the film exhibition industry was in shambles.

Still, Lynch’s TV series Twin Peaks earned a cult following thanks to illegal distribution on pirated video cassettes before it was officially aired in late 1993, more than three years after the series debuted on ABC in the United States.

“Russians can relate to everything that is linked to nature and forests,” Anika Barto, the founder of the Twin Peaks community on the Russian social network VKontakte, told THR. “Twin Peaks also has a really fantastic atmosphere that many here like. Plus, there is mystery, enigmas and mysticism.”

Meanwhile, it is not yet clear what network in Russia will air the Twin Peaks revival, considered the show’s third season.

Twin Peaks‘ revival will premiere as a limited series on Showtime on May 21, 2017, nearly 26 years after the final episode of the original series aired. It will have most of the original series’ characters and cast, and consist of 18 episodes.

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