This Is Spinal Tap Sequel to Start Filming in February

Rob Reiner is back in the director’s chair for the long-awaited sequel to This Is Spinal Tap, and he’ll be reuniting with original stars Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, and Michael McKean. With all those returns, it’s understandable why fans are excited to see the sequel come to fruition, and now there’s been a promising update on the project. Variety is reporting that the This Is Spinal Tap sequel will begin filming in February of 2024, and Reiner also revealed on the RHLSTP with Richard Herring podcast that the film will feature cameos from legends like Paul McCartney, Elton John, and Garth Brooks.

The anticipated sequel is reportedly mimicking the style of Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz and will feature many of the elements that made the original such a classic. Reiner did add some advice for those who want to enter the world of comedy filmmaking, saying “You don’t want to overstay your welcome. This is [like] stand-up – you leave them wanting. You go off on a big laugh and go out. The worst thing you could do is just load it up with, even if they’re funny things, they may be tangents and things that take away from the drive of the film.”

In a previous interview with Deadline, Reiner revealed the plan for the film, a film that for a long time he didn’t think needed to happen. “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,” Reiner said.

When the plan for the film did start to materialize, it was very much inspired by real life. “They’ve played Albert Hall, played Wembley Stadium, all over the country and in Europe,” Reiner said. “They haven’t spent any time together recently, and that became the premise. The idea was that Ian Faith, who was their manager, he passed away. In reality, Tony Hendra passed away. Ian’s widow inherited a contract that said Spinal Tap owed them one more concert. She was basically going to sue them if they didn’t. 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.”

Reiner isn’t just returning to direct either, as he will be reprising his role from the original in front of the camera as well. “I’m back playing Marty DiBergi,” he said. “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.”

Reiner already revealed he was hoping for some guest artists to be included, and we are already starting to see that happen. “Hopefully there will be some guest artists,’ Reiner said. “The thing I’ve heard from so many bands and we’re talking about possibly doing a couple books, but one will be Tap Moments that real bands have had. Like in the movie, they get stoned and can’t find the stage, that happened to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. When Nigel is frustrated by the little bread in the catering that won’t hold the cold cuts, that last one was taken from a Rolling Stone article about a tour Van Halen had when, in their rider, they didn’t want brown M&Ms.”

We had an original keyboard player, Jonathan Sinclair, who when he was with the band Uriah Heep, visited us and said they’d been book into a military base, and we put that in, too. When I met with Sting years ago, he said, I’ve seen that movie 50 times and every time I watch it I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Because it’s so much what happens. With all of that, we’ve had a lot of bands share their experiences and so hopefully we’ll include some of that in the film,” Reiner said.

Are you excited for the sequel? Let us know in the comments!