Filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner has dropped some huge news for fans of Spinal Tap.
He is getting ready to film the sequel to the 1984 mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap,” Entertainment Weekly reported.
Reiner announced the news on the podcast RHLSTP with Richard Herring, saying that filming is set to start at the end of February and adding that Paul McCartney, Elton John and even Garth Brooks have been tapped to appear.
Michael McKean will appear as frontman David St. Hubbins, Christopher Guest will reprise his role as guitarist Nigel Tufnel and Harry Shearer will strap on the bass to portray Derek Smalls. Reiner will also be back as documentarian Mary DiBergi.
Reiner actually released a statement last year that he was planning on shooting a second film featuring the fake band, saying, “When it was announced that Spinal Tap would reunite for one final concert, Marty DiBergi saw this as a chance to make things right with the band who viewed This Is Spinal Tap as a hatchet job. So he left his position as visiting adjunct teacher’s assistant at the Ed Wood School of Cinematic Arts in pursuit of film history,” Entertainment Weekly reported.
Deadline reported at the time of the announcement in 2022 that Reiner would call the movie “Spinal Tap II,” saying, “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.’ 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,”
While some may discount the original film as just a mockery or mimic of a film made by Martin Scorsese which documented the final tour of the group The Band, the original “This Is Spinal Tap” had such a cultural significance that it was selected to be included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, Deadline reported. It was added to the registry in 2002.
“Spinal Tap II” was scheduled for release on March 19, 2024, but the writers’ and actors’ strikes caused delays to many films, Entertainment Weekly reported. There has been no word on whether this movie was affected, however, Fran Drescher, who is the president of SAG-AFTRA, appeared in the original film as Bobbi Flekman, a role she reprised on an episode of her television series “The Nanny.”
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