When Rob Reiner and the members of Spinal Tap were trying to crack the story for the long-awaited sequel to the classic heavy metal mockumentary, they found some unexpected inspiration in Kate Bush and Stranger Things.
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is slated to follow the titular band as they reunite after a 15-year hiatus for one final concert. As Reiner explained in a new interview with Variety, the big challenge was coming up with a realistic reason for the band to reunite. As he explained, the death of actor Tony Hendra, who played Spinal Tap’s manager in the original film, gave them the idea, “Well, what if their manager’s daughter inherited a contract that calls for one more concert?”
Next, they had to figure out what would suddenly be driving demand for a reunion of a band that, as Reiner put it, “hadn’t played in 15 years.” That’s when they remembered the resurgence of Kate Bush’s 1985 song “Running Up That Hill” after it was featured on Stranger Things in 2022.
“Well, what if a famous musician or someone starts screwing around with a Spinal Tap song, somebody catches it on an iPhone and puts it up on TikTok, it goes viral, and all of a sudden they become relevant again?” Reiner explained. “So with all of those things together, we came up with this idea.”
Spinal Tap II will find Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer all reprising their roles as band members Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins, and Derek Smalls, respectively, while Reiner is both directing and portraying the in-film documentarian Marty DiBergi. The film is set to arrive Sept. 12.
Like the original This Is Spinal Tap, Reiner has said that the sequel would largely be improvised, but with a firm structure in place. The filmmaker also cited another key influence of the film, saying it would be modeled in part on Martin Scorsese’s classic documentary about the Band’s final concert, The Last Waltz.
The cameo list for Spinal Tap II is expected to be large, with confirmed appearances from Elton John, Paul McCartney, Garth Brooks, and Trisha Yearwood. There are also several big-name drummers set to take the stage — and hopefully skirt the infamous Spinal Tap drummer curse — including Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith and Metallica’s Lars Ulrich.
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