Hello Cleveland! There's a Spinal Tap sequel on the way

Spinal Tap group shot
(Image credit: David Corio/Getty Images)

There is to be a second Spinal Tap movie. The news was broken by director Rob Reiner in an interview with Deadline

“I can tell you hardly a day goes by without someone saying, why don’t you do another one?" said Reiner. “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 honour the first one and push it a little further with the story."

Reiner made his directorial debut on the 1984 cult classic This Is Spinal Tap. and will return as filmmaker Marty DiBergi in This Is Spinal Tap II, which is due for release on March 19, 2024, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the original film. 

"I’m back playing Marty DiBergi," confirms Reiner. "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."

“They’ve played Albert Hall, played Wembley Stadium, all over the country and in Europe,” continues Reiner. “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.”

Band members David St. Hubbins, Derek Smalls and Nigel Tufnel will return to reprise their original roles in This Is Spinal Tap II, although it's unclear who'll be filling the vacant drum stool, or if the film will be released in Dubly. 

Fraser Lewry

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.