The Showtime series is being directed by David Lynch like one long movie — with the number of hours to be determined in postproduction.

Twin Peaks' road to revival has not been without its obstacles. In the year since Showtime announced that the cult drama was coming back after a two-decade hiatus, co-creator David Lynch briefly pulled out due to a contract dispute, and fellow co-creator Mark Frost hinted that the limited series wouldn't be ready until 2017.

Fans may not have to wait that long, after all. Speaking at Thursday's Television Critics Association summer press tour, Showtime president David Nevins confirmed that production would get underway in just a matter of weeks. "Shooting starts in September, thankfully," he said.

There is still no confirmed news about cast additions on top of original lead Kyle MacLachlan, but Nevins said that there would soon be announcements about other favorites who would be returning to the series.

As far as timing goes, Nevins noted that it's still too soon to tell if the series indeed will be ready for 2016 and not 2017, as Frost has implied. "I want it as badly as some of the biggest fans in the world want it, so I'm hoping we make 2016," said Nevins. "It's not clear. It's ultimately going to be in their control. They're going to shoot the whole thing, and then they'll be in post [production]."

Lynch, as of now, indeed is directing every episode and is approaching it as one long movie. No exact episode count was given — Nevins described it as "open-ended" — but it will be more than the original nine episodes planned at the time of last October's order. Conflict over the number of episodes, it turns out, was the reason that Lynch publicly distanced himself from the project.

"I never had any doubts we were going to get him back. ... This was a huge priority project for me," admitted Nevins. "It became clear that it was going to take more than [the] nine episodes that we originally planned for and budgeted for. We had to work out the details. I really wanted David to direct the whole thing. It's looking in great shape."

When pushed on who has made deals to return — rumored castmembers include Sherilyn Fenn and Michael Ontkean — Nevins said that not everything had been finalized but that the characters viewers expect to see on the show will make an appearance.

Nevins wrapped up Twin Peaks talk by saying that he had read all of the scripts, but he is letting the creators steer the ship themselves. "I would call them conversations, not notes," he said. "Ultimately, [Lynch] has creative control. He deserves it."