Just over a week after the legendary mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap celebrated its 40th anniversary, the sequel is finally beginning production. Rob Reiner is now shooting This Is Spinal Tap 2 in New Orleans with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer back in front of the camera as the heavy metal icons. Additionally, the production has set a slate of cameos that go to eleven, featuring the previously unveiled Elton John, Garth Brooks, and Paul McCartney alongside newcomers Questlove and Trisha Yearwood.
Announced back in 2022, This Is Spinal Tap 2 will catch up with the loudest and most punctual band after a 15-year hiatus as they reunite for one last concert that they don’t particularly want to do. Reiner previously teased that the band’s been busy since we last saw them on the big screen, scoring gigs at Wembley Stadium and all of Europe’s biggest venues before they decided to break up. Their reunion is spurred on by the widow of their manager Ian Faith, played by the late Tony Hendra in the original film, who threatens legal action if they don’t honor their contract for one more show. “All these years and a lot of bad blood we’ll get into, and they’re thrown back together and forced to deal with each other and play this concert,” Reiner said at the time. Unknown at this time, however, is how they’ll find another drummer after Mick Shrimpton (Ric Parnell) spontaneously combusted.
Adding to the nightmare for David St. Hubbins (McKean), Nigel Tufnel (Guest), and Derek Smalls (Shearer) is that Reiner will reprise his role as documentarian Martin “Marty” DiBergi. The band had a less-than-friendly relationship with the filmmaker as he followed them around and captured the inner turmoil brewing between the members and their manager. DiBergi, however, will be eager to follow up with Spinal Tap in the sequel and make up for his “hatchet job” of a first film, according to Reiner, who released a statement saying, “I recently spoke to Marty DiBergi who said that he was more than happy to take a sabbatical from his position as a visiting Professor’s Assistant at the Ed Wood School of Cinematic Arts to once again document Spinal Tap to ensure their place in the pantheon of Rock and Roll.”
‘This Is Spinal Tap 2’ Has a Massive Legacy to Live Up To
This Is Spinal Tap has become a legendary cult classic, largely seen as the best, and the most influential, mockumentary ever made. Its significance has even been recognized by the Library of Congress, which selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2002. The sequel, then, has a lot to prove to be seen as a worthy successor. Fortunately, the story was penned by Guest, McKean, Shearer, and Reiner, ensuring that the people who helped make the original a classic will steer the sequel forward. Castle Rock Entertainment is financing with Reiner, Michele Reiner, and Matthew George on board as producers and Christopher H. Warner and Derrick Rossi as executive producers.
This Is Spinal Tap 2 was initially set to release this month on March 19. A new date has yet to be decided. Stay tuned here at Collider for more as work gets underway on the mockumentary sequel.
via Collider