Japanese Trailer for ‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me’

Fresh off the Peaksmas 2025 celebration, I still have Twin Peaks in Japan on my mind. During my research into Kyle MacLachlan’s visit to Japan in February 1992, I found the Japanese trailer for David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. The minute-long preview features MacLachlan reprising his role as Special Agent Dale Cooper by delivering a monologue from the Red Room. I was curious about what other mysteries were found in the trailer, so I took a deep dive into this early 1990s goodness.

WHEN WAS ‘TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME’ RELEASED IN JAPAN?

David Lynch’s 1992 masterpiece, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, debuted on May 16, 1992 in Japan. This was the same day as the film’s debut at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival . The film was rushed into theatres by Nippon Herald Films hoping to capitalize on the mania surrounding the show. The company even staged mock funerals for Laura Palmer at several train stations throughout the country to generate publicity.

According to a Los Angeles Times article from June 1992, ticket sales were incredibly strong for Lynch’s film:

“Since its premiere in Japan on May 16, ticket sales for the movie have reached 450,000; it is expected to run through the summer … ‘We’re booked into more than 100 theaters around Japan,’ says Taku Ushiyama of Nippon Herald Films Inc., the movie’s Japanese distributor. ‘That’s the equivalent of a 2,000-theater release in the U.S.”

By August 2, 1992, the film had grossed $2.9 million at the box office according to reports from Variety.

JAPANESE TRAILER FOR ‘TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME’

On February 24, 1992, Kyle MacLachlan participated in a press conference about Lynch’s soon-to-be-released film at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, Japan. This was one of the first major announcements about the film which had completed filming in early November 1991.

At some point either around or after this press conference, Kyle reprised his role as Special Agent Dale Cooper. He recorded a monologue in a replica Red Room set while dressed in Cooper’s black suit and tie. My assumption is that he recorded it during his February 1992 trip to Japan yet, without proper production paperwork, it’s only an educated guess.

The trailer opens with an abstract black and red background with a floating picture frame.

The frame spins and fills the screen as “Laura Palmer’s Theme” plays. A Japanese phrase covers the frame as it approaches the camera. Roughly translated, it reads, “Twin Peaks is becoming a movie!”

The frame contains Laura Palmer’s Homecoming Queen photo. A question is asked, “Who really killed Laura?”

Laura’s face continues filling the screen as a second question is asked, “Why was Laura killed?”

The frame suddenly cracks.

The image is replaced with Laura Palmer’s image as she was found “dead, wrapped in plastic” on the rocky beach at Blue Pine Lodge in the pilot.

The same image of Laura Palmer is used on the Japanese CD soundtrack cover from 1992.

The image was also found on a Japanese flyer for the the film.

The wrapped in plastic image spins away from the camera as four Japanese words appear in each corner of the rectangular frame. Translated, the image reads, “The Mystery of the World’s Most Beautiful Corpse.”

The image fades to a silhouette of Special Agent Dale Cooper in a room that is supposed to resemble to Red Room.  He is recording a note to Diane via his tape recorder – “Diane, I have a strange hunch. Is the murder of Laura Palmer really the end, or just the beginning?”

Cooper crosses the room into the light. The lamps in the room do not match the lamps seen in the television show set. It was supposed to be a nod to the Red Room set but I’m assuming a local Japanese production company produced the short monologue (not David Lynch).

In the background, one can see a shadow pass behind the curtain, similar to the first time we see the Red Room either in the International Pilot or episode 1.002.

Cooper’s monologue continues, “In any case, I’m absolutely certain that the key to the solution of this riddle is hidden within this film.”

After he finishes speaking, MacLachlan breaks the fourth wall and looks directly at the camera.

The scene fades to a triptych of MacLachlan as Special Agent Dale Cooper, Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) and Phillip Jeffries (David Bowie). The Japanese text along the bottom of the screen reads, “Distributed by Nippon Herald Films.”

I recreated the same triptych using publicity photos from the television series and feature film. David Bowie was a huge star in Japan so his inclusion in the marketing was designed to drive attendance (despite both MacLachlan and him hardly being in the movie).

“Laura Palmer’s Theme” continues playing as actors’ names appear one-by-one on the screen.

Google Translate had a difficult time with Mädchen Amick. Interestingly, both Joan Chen, who played Josie Packard, and Michael Ontkean, who played Sheriff Harry S. Truman, are credited. Their scenes wouldn’t be seen until 2014 when The Missing Pieces was released.

Assuming this trailer was produced around February 1992, it could mean that an early cut of the film had included those deleted scenes. Between this trailer and the official theatrical release in May, their scenes were removed.

The cast credits fade to David Lynch’s credit which read: “Written and Directed by Winner of the Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix for “Wild at Heart” / David Lynch”

The trailer concluded with the film logo in Japanese which had the subtitle of “The Last Seven Days of Laura Palmer.”

The translated text along the bottom read: “Provided by Nippon Herald Films, Amuse, Pioneer LDC”

The same “Provided by:” information was found along the bottom of the ticket stub for the film in Japan.

Special thank you to YouTube used mandarake who posted the trailer in this five minute video about Twin Peaks in Japan. The trailer starts around the 2m 27s mark.