With the 30th Anniversary of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me on August 28, 2022, I scoured newspapers to find print advertisements from the initial release of the film. These ads use variations of an iconic image of Sheryl Lee playing Laura Palmer. Here is a sampling from August and September 1992.
The print ads began appearing in newspapers on August 27, the day before the film’s U.S. release (which was in 691 theatres across the country). By the end of week two, the film was showing at 948 screens. The ads mostly appeared from August 27-September 4.
With less-than-desirable box office results and numerous negative reviews, the ads pretty much vanished from the Entertainment and Lifestyle sections after September 7. Additional newspapers carried smaller, edited versions into mid-September. Sadly, the film exited most markets within the month.
THE KEY IMAGE
The print advertisement was a variation of the poster made for the U.S. theatrical release, which includes the tag line, “In a town like Twin Peaks, no one is innocent.” This key image was used on everything connected to the film, from the soundtrack album cover to the VHS cover.
The shot of Laura Palmer in the half-heart necklace is from a scene in in Room 6 at the Red Diamond City Motel.
A similar pose is seen in The Missing Pieces when Teresa Banks enters the room where Ronette and Laura were waiting to “party.”
I believe New Line Cinema’s marketing team selected this image as it would appeal to all audiences, whether or not there was familiarity with the television series. Laura’s innocent, girl-next-door facade hides darker secrets, like the tender boughs of innocence burning brightly.
I have organized the ads by appearance date.
AUGUST 27, 1992
AUGUST 28, 1992
AUGUST 29, 1992
AUGUST 30, 1992
AUGUST 31, 1992
SEPTEMBER 1, 1992
SEPTEMBER 2, 1992
This is the day when box office results were released. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me made about $1.8 million dollars.
SEPTEMBER 3, 1992
SEPTEMBER 4, 1992
For ads beginning September 4, there were two reviews included on the image. The first one included four and a half stars from Howie Movshovitz, Denver Post. The second addition was a sentence from Frank Swertlow from L.A. Daily News who proclaimed, “Sheryl Lee deserves and Oscar nomination.” He’s not wrong with that assessment.
SEPTEMBER 7, 10, and 20, 1992
I’ll add other advertisements if I should find any.
