In 1992, New Line Cinema faced a difficult situation for David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Following the film’s Cannes Film Festival debut on May 16, newspapers reported audiences “booed” the screening. We know today this is only partially true as Dugpa and I discovered proof audiences cheered at one of two screenings at Cannes. Nevertheless, newspapers echoed critical reviews for weeks which forced the film’s distribution company to introduce an unorthodox marketing strategy in North America. They held themed happy hours in Southern California and co-sponsored a fan festival in Snoqualmie Valley, Washington. They also canceled advance screenings for critics. I recently discovered, however, one screening was held on Aug. 27, the night before its North American release on Aug. 28.
NEW LINE CINEMA’S MARKETING STRATEGY FOR TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME
On the same day David Lynch’s film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, the film opened in hundreds of theatres throughout Japan where audiences couldn’t get enough of Twin Peaks. Audiences in other countries also saw the film before the North American release including France on July 3 and in Germany on August 20, but their release was not as successful as Japan where the film was a box office smash.
In August, New Line Cinema partnered with the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce to premiere the film at the North Bend Theatre on August 16 during the first Twin Peaks Fan Festival. Hundreds of Twin Peaks fans cheered the screening attended by David Lynch, Ray Wise, Sheryl Lee, Moira Kelly, Al Strobel, Catherine Coulson and others. But most North American fans (and critics) would need to wait until August 28 to see Lynch’s film.
Newspapers speculated the critical response from Cannes, repeated in newspapers for months, influenced the company’s decision to cancel critics’ screenings. A Newsday article on August 24 said a source explained New Line believed “it had a built-in audience of Peaks freaks – and it wasn’t about to risk having them turned off by those nasty old critics.”
The Evening Chronicle echoed this sentiment with a similar blurb on August 27.
The next day, New Line Cinema’s president of marketing, Sandra Ruch, defended the company’s approach in a Los Angeles Times interview. She insisted that New Line Cinema had “opened films without screening them for critics before – most recently the last installment in the ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ series.'”
As a small independent film company, they were “forced to try unorthodox strategies to create a ‘must-see, event-like atmosphere’ for its films.”
Rauch added they had “maintained a tight lid on the film as part of a marketing plan designed to heighten the ‘mystery, mystique and element of surprise’ that drove the ‘Twin Peaks’ phenomenon in the first place.” She denied the company was afraid of negative reviews.
TWIN PEAKS HAPPY HOURS AND THE PREMIERE PARTY WITH NO SCREENING
One “unorthodox strategy” was holding “Twin Peaks – Fire Walk With Me Happy Hour” at four Manhattan Cooler locations in Southern California (see this unique promotion in this Twin Peaks Blog article).
A full-page advertisement in L.A. Weekly on August 27, 1992 stated two free movie passes were available on first-come, first-serve basis to people who stopped by Z Line, Motor On In and Sensations! in Los Angeles.
Free passes to an “Advance Screening” were also offered to people visiting McCormick & Schmick’s Restaurants in Portland, Oregon; Los Angeles, California; Seattle, Washington; Denver, Colorado; and Irvine, California between August 15-26. To get the two free movie passes, people just had to mention “Bohemia Beer and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.”
On August 26, McCormick and Schmick’s in downtown Los Angeles was also home to the “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” Premiere Party attended by the film’s stars, Dana Ashbrook, Sheryl Lee, Ray Wise, Grace Zabriskie and Catherine Coulson. The strangest part about this event was the film was not shown, so it was a “premiere party” without an actual screening. New Line really did follow through on their plan of no advance screenings, except there was one screening held on August 27.
Thanks to a theatre ticket being sold on eBay, I have confirmed the date and time of this one “advance screening” for U.S. audiences.
WHEN WAS THE ADVANCE SCREENING OF TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME HELD IN THE UNITED STATES?
While scrolling on eBay.com for rarely seen Twin Peaks items, I found a graded movie ticket from a seller for $465.00.
The auction was listed as “TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME / 1992 Advance Screening Ticket, David Bowie PSA 1.” The seller stated the ticket was graded a PSA 1 because it “has several pinholes or staple holes.”
The ticket’s front image has a cropped image from the North American movie poster with Laura Palmer shown in a half burning heart against a Red Room background.
Text on the ticket’s back included the film’s logo and credits along with details of the screening. The ticket stated: “This invitation is transferable and admits two” and seating was “on a First Come, First Serve Basis.”
This particular advance screening was held at the now demolished United Artists’ Movies at Regency, once located 9333 Atlantic Boulevard in Jacksonville, Florida, as part of a promotion by New Line Cinema and WAPE-FM Power 95 in Northern Florida.
This is the first time I have ever seen a ticket for an “advance screening.” Most likely, the free tickets provided at the three Los Angeles, California shops and McCormick and Schmick’s Restaurants in the Western United States were also for showings on August 27. By placing the film at 10:00 p.m., the film would have ended around midnight. Critics who might have attended wouldn’t have time to write a review for their morning papers (this was a time long before social media).
I also found a contest to win two complimentary tickets published in North County Times on Aug. 23. This advance screening was also held on August 27 at 10:00 p.m. at Mann Cinema 21, located at 1440 Hotel Circle North in Mission Valley. That theatre was closed in Sept. 1998 and eventually was replaced by apartments.
Despite this one advance screening on Aug. 27, newspapers continued stating there “were no advance screenings anywhere in the county.” Perhaps reporters meant there were no screenings for film critics. Sadly, the canceling of critic screenings didn’t stop a flood of poor reviews in newspapers across the county after Aug. 28. By October 1992, the film was virtually gone from the silver screen, earning $4,160,851. domestically.
It’s funny how decades later, this film is now considered one of Lynch’s finest. I only wish I was in one of those theatres on August 27 to see the “questions in a world of blue” unfold for the first time.
