Ted Sarandos Recalls David Lynch’s Unrealized Netflix Limited Series: ‘We Were All In’

Ted Sarandos has joined the many others in the entertainment industry paying tribute to David Lynch, who died Thursday at 78. Netflix co-CEO Sarandos shared a tribute on Instagram to honor one of his “all time favorite filmmakers” and noted that Lynch had been in contact with the streamer to direct a limited series. The production went unrealized due to complications caused by the COVID pandemic and, later, “health uncertainties.” In 2024, Lynch publicly disclosed that he had been diagnosed with emphysema after a lifetime of smoking, and that any future directing would have to be done remotely.

“He came into Netflix to pitch a limited series which we jumped at,” Sarandos wrote. “It was a David Lynch production, so filled with mystery and risks but we wanted to go on this creative ride with this genius. First COVID, then some health uncertainties lead to this project never being produced but we made it clear that as soon as he was able, we were all in.”

Notably, there had been rumblings of a Netflix project from Lynch in the years before his death. In November 2020, an issue of Production Weekly (which publishes listings that are not always entirely accurate about coming film shoots) detailed a Lynch limited series called “Wisteria.” That title was later revealed to be a code name given to the project by Netflix, and the project was also known as “Unrecorded Night.” Per the listing, Lynch had planned to write and direct 13 episodes of the series, with his “Lost Highway” and “Mulholland Drive” cinematographer Peter Deming.

In November 2021, Deming disclosed in an interview that the project had been put aside due to the COVID pandemic, but noted that he was “assuming it will come back to life at some point.” In May 2024, Lynch’s longtime producer Sabrina Sutherland shared in a Q&A that “there’s always a chance” Lynch could return to the limited series, but he had been “enjoying his artwork and music endeavors.” Whether or not the project that Sarandos is recalling is, indeed, “Unrecorded Night” remains unconfirmed. Representatives for the streamer were not immediately available for comment.

In his tribute, Sarandos also recalled his first meeting with Lynch, back when Netflix was primarily a DVD-by-mail company. The exec had reached out to Lynch to stock copies of his first film “Eraserhead,” as it was out of print.

“We agreed to a bulk buy of ‘Eraserhead’ and for Netflix to produce a DVD of all of his visionary short films. After we agreed to make this happen, David gave me a tour of the house and his art. Then he asked if I would like to take a look at an early cut of his next film. I thought he meant some scenes,” Sarandos wrote. “He brought me to his screening room and ran a nearly three-hour cut of ‘Mulholland Drive.’ I hadn’t planned on being there all day but was amazed to be in David Lynch’s home and in his screening room watching his yet to be released new film. About two hours in, I realized that he had left. I watched the rest of the film and let myself out.”