# In 1991, David Lynch signed a contract to direct three movies. He only made one and still got paid $6.5 million

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/in-1991-david-lynch-signed-a-contract-to-direct-three-movies-he-only-made-one-and-still-got-paid-6-5-million/
- Published: 2026-11-14T15:45:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-14T16:25:09+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/david-lynch-signed-contract-direct-three-movies-made-one-got-paid-6-5-million/
- Topics: Entertainment, Film

## Key points

- Lynch’s three-film deal produced only *Lost Highway*.
- A court awarded him $6.5 million for breach of contract.
- The ruling backed directors’ pay-or-play agreements.

## Summary

David Lynch signed a three-film deal with CIBY 2000 in 1991 but made only one film under it, *Lost Highway*. After the company withdrew the contract, a US court ruled it had breached a pay-or-play agreement and awarded Lynch $6.5 million, a case that underscored studios’ obligations to honour production commitments.

CIBY said Lynch had missed deadlines, though its founder, Francis Bouygues, had previously waived that requirement. The contract meant Lynch was owed payment whether or not the company used his services. The article describes the award as one of the largest judgments for a director and says a contact Lynch made at CIBY later helped finance *The Straight Story*.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.