Spinal Tap Getting a Sequel, 40 Years Later

Castle Rock Entertainment has announced a sequel to the 1984 cult classic This Is Spinal Tap, with Rob Reiner returning to the directors’ chair and Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Christopher Guest returning to play pretentious rock gods David St. Hubbins, Derek Smalls and Nigel Tufnel, respectively.

The sequel will be released to coincide with the 40^th anniversary of This Is Spinal Tap in early 2024, and will include special guest performers to be announced at a later date.

The original This Is Spinal Tap will also screen at the Cannes Film Festival as a part of the Cinema de la Plage sidebar on Wednesday, May 18.

The mockumentary, Reiner’s directorial debut, was critically praised and widely beloved, and has been deemed “culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress, and was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry.

All the actors playing the core members of Spinal Tap — the group goes through a lot of drummers — are in their 70s now. But that’s astonishingly on-point in an era when older bands dominate stadium-rock tours.

Besides directing, Reiner will return in the role of filmmaker Marty DiBergi.

“When it was announced that Spinal Tap would reunite for one final concert, Marty DeBergi 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,” said Reiner.

Sales for the sequel will begin at the Cannes Film Festival, which starts Tuesday. Guest, McKean, Reiner, and Shearer will conceive the new film, and Frank Marshall will produce. CAA Media Finance will handle worldwide sales and introduce the film.

Castle Rock Entertainment recently relaunched with a $175 million film fund under Reiner, its CEO. The company will finance the film with Matthew George, Jonathan Fuhrman, and Hernan Narea serving as executive producers on Castle Rock’s behalf.

Main image: (L-R) Harry Shearer as Derek Smalls, Christopher Guest as Nigel Tufnel and Michael McKean as David St. Hubbins, the members of Spinal Tap.