In 1984, Rob Reiner introduced the world to Spinal Tap, the subject of his This Is Spinal Tap mockumentary and one of the hands-down funniest movies of that decade (and most others). Now, Reiner will return as filmmaker Marty DeBurgi to chronicle the continuing adventures of David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer), and Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) in This Is Spinal Tap 2.
The impact of Reiner’s original film is vast for such a strange flick. In 2002, the Library of Congress said it was “culturally, historically and aesthetically significant” and it was entered into the National Film Registry. But its real impact is in the countless quotable lines and earnest imitations that came in its wake.
Reiner spoke with Deadline and said the premise would be a Spinal Tap reunion for one, last, contractually mandated live performance. “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,” he explained.
“The plan is to do a sequel that comes out on the 40th anniversary of the original film,” he continued. “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.’ 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.”
Well, that all sounds pretty promising. Reiner hinted there might be some actual rock star cameos this time around and more of the barely satirical rock star antics that made the first one a classic. Many of Spinal Tap‘s funniest bits were inspired by actual rock band legends (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers once did get lost in an underground maze between their dressing rooms and the stage. Van Halen really did have a line in their rider requesting bowls of M&Ms with the brown ones removed) so it’ll be interesting to see what they pull from from the last 37 years of rock diva-dom for the sequel. Should be a good time. The movie is targeting a March 2024 release date.
