Director Rob Reiner has revealed some details of what to expect from the long-awaited Spinal Tap II film.
The sequel is a follow-up to the 1984 beloved mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap – which has been considered to be one of the greatest comedy films of all time. It stars Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer portraying the hapless heavy metal trio, all of who are set to return to the second film.
In a new interview with Empire, Reiner shared some of the forthcoming film’s plotlines after it was reported that Paul McCartney and Elton John will appear in the film, as confirmed by Reiner himself.
The director said that the film – which is set for release “sometime late spring or early summer” of 2025 – is set to open with sharing what singer David St. Hubbins, guitarist Nigel Tufnel and bassist Derek Smalls have been up to following the disbandment of Spinal Tap.
“Nigel has been running a cheese and guitar shop in Berwick-upon-Tweed,” Reiner told the outlet. “He’s also been performing with a local folk band in the village that play penny whistle and mandolin, and he plays electric guitar with them. We show a little clip of that.”
He continued: “David St. Hubbins has been living in Morro Bay in California, and he’s been writing music for podcasts, particularly this one true-crime podcast called ‘The Trouble With Murder.’ He also writes the music that you hear when you’re on hold on the phone.
“Derek is living in London and is now the curator of the New Museum of Glue. He’s curated glue from every country in the world – the whole history of glue – and he shows me around. He’s also been performing with a philharmonic orchestra, and he’s written this kind of symphony about the fact that the devil wears a bad hair piece. It’s called Hell Toupée.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the director of the film opened up about where the inspiration for the film came from, citing that the idea for Spinal Tap II came from the passing of Tony Hendra – who portrayed Spinal Tap’s manager Ian Faith in the 1984 film.
“[W]e came up with this idea that Ian Faith had willed his daughter, Hope, this contract that called for one more performance,” Reiner said.
He continued: “She thinks initially, ‘Well, this is not really worth anything…’ But then some big music star, while screwing around at a sound check, is filmed on an iPhone singing a Tap song, and it goes wild on social media. All of a sudden, the contract is worth something.”
Renier also opened up about what the film’s soundtrack will be like, saying that new Spinal Tap songs will be featured in the film and its accompanying soundtrack album. “[I]t’ll have a couple of cuts by Elton John and one cut by Paul McCartney – songs that they sing in the film, which aren’t Spinal Tap-type songs, they’re ones that people know. But the rest of them are new,” he said.
He continued: “There’s a scene where Henry Diltz, the very famous rock photographer, takes them to a cemetery in New Orleans. Nigel’s like, ‘Why are we here? All these people are dead.’ And Henry says, ‘Well, you’ve got to get used to this idea. You know, it’s going to happen.’
“Then Derek has this idea of what it’s going to be like after he dies. So he’s got this song called ‘Rockin’ In The Urn’ which is all about the fact that even after he’s dead, he’s still going to be performing.”
The sequel was first revealed in 2022. Recently, it emerged that Metallica‘s Lars Ulrich and Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith were set to make appearances.
Other names confirmed for Spinal Tap II include returns for Fran Drescher and Paul Shaffer, as well as new names John Michael Higgins, Chris Addison, Kerry Godliman and Nina Conti.