A sequel to the 1984 classic This Is Spinal Tap is in the works, with director Rob Reiner returning alongside stars Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer.
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According to a report from Variety, the movie package will begin looking for distributors during the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and will target a March 19, 2024 release date in order to tie into the film’s 40th anniversary. The report also notes that the film will be in the style of Martin Scorcese’s The Last Waltz, a concert documentary that followed the farewell tour of the Canadian American rock group The Band.
The report also goes on to mention that real-life musicians will be used in the This Is Spinal Tap sequel, although no official names have been mentioned as of yet. The original film — which debuted in March 1984 — was a mockumentary that chronicled the life and American tour of the fictional English heavy metal band Spinal Tap.
In the film, Reiner portrayed documentarian Martin “Marty Di Bergi,” with McKean playing David St. Hubbins, the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the band, Guest playing Nigel Tufnel, the lead guitarist, and Shearer portraying Derek Smalls, the bassist of the band. Filming of This Is Spinal Tap consisted of mostly improvised dialogue, with the team behind the film reportedly having dozens of hours of unreleased content.
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This Is Spinal Tap launched to nearly universal acclaim but didn’t make too much money at the box office. However, its home video release saw an even larger audience flock to it, and it quickly gained a large cult following, and would eventually be selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 2002 after being deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress.
