There's another dimension where the late David Lynch converted Eric 'ConcernedApe' Barone's Stardew Valley into his proprietary blend of murder mystery and apple pie Americana, and in this dimension, I am sat in front of the TV. In the real, pitiful world, however, I still miss David Lynch after his death last January, and Barone seems resigned to never adapt his preternaturally cozy game.
Barone tells IGN in a new interview, while he's been approached "many times" to turn Stardew Valley into a film or television property, he's always been too "worried that I wouldn't be happy with the final result." The only exception he would have made is for the surrealist genius and Blue Velvet director Lynch.
"I could potentially imagine it being cool," Barone continues to say about a Stardew adaptation. "That's why I said once, that if David Lynch had wanted to make a Stardew Valley movie in the style of Twin Peaks or something, I would've been like, 'Yeah, great. You can do whatever you want, Mr. Lynch.'"
"Honestly, I would've let him just do whatever," Barone says, and "I think it would've been great."
Otherwise, Barone is anxious about deciding players' ideas of Stardew Valley for them. He says, "Stardew Valley is very much about the characters and the world and the tone of the game. So to take those characters, which, they don't have voices in the game. You have to use your imagination a bit to fill in the gaps, which I think makes the game more personal to every player. They're filling in the gaps. If it becomes a movie or a TV show, suddenly those gaps are all filled for you."
"It would be cool to see Stardew Valley on the silver screen and drive by a movie theater and see Stardew Valley on the marquee," Barone concedes, "but it's like, 'Is it really the best for Stardew Valley?'"
