1984's This Is Spinal Tap has long passed into the status of movie comedy legend, the endlessly quotable, superbly performed and musically sound work of Rob Reiner, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest and their collaborators cited by comedians and musicians alike as a favourite. A sequel to the mock-rock-doc seemed unlikely for years, but now Reiner is getting the band back together.
"The plan is to do a sequel that comes out on the 40th anniversary of the original film and I can tell you hardly a day goes by without someone saying, why don’t you do another one? For so many years, we said, ‘nah.’" explains Reiner to Deadline" It wasn’t until we came up with the right idea how to do this. You don’t want to just do it, to do it. You want to honor the first one and push it a little further with the story."
So what's that story? Turns out the members of Spinal Tap haven't performed together for years, bad blood bubbling between them. But when manager Ian Faith (the late Tony Hendra) dies, his widow discovers a contract that says the Tap owes a final concert. If they can't put aside their differences and work together to rock on one last time, they're going to be sued into the stone age – or possibly Stonehenge.
Also back? The director who chronicled their misadventures last time. "I’m back playing Marty DiBergi," Reiner reveals. "The band was upset with the first film. They thought I did a hatchet job and this is a chance to redeem myself. I am such a big fan and I felt bad they didn’t like what they saw in the first film. When I heard they might get back together, I was a visiting adjunct teacher’s helper at the Ed Wood School of Cinematic Arts. I drop everything to document this final concert."
The original film will be playing on the beach as part of the Cannes Cinema de la Plage sidebar on 18 May, and the rights to the sequel will be for sale at the festival's market. And there's already a plan in place for the follow-up to arrive on 19 March, 2024, to mark the 40th anniversary of the first one.