Mockumentary sequel Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is out in September, and the full trailer has emerged as a reminder.
Update 25th July 2025: Belated mockumentary sequel Spinal Tap II: The End Continues now – finally – has a full trailer. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer are back in their wigs (now greyer) as the hapless veteran rock band, now reuniting for one last gig.
Just as importantly, director Rob Reiner is also back in front of the camera as documentarian Marty DiBergi, who catches up with the ageing rockers as they stumble back out of obscurity in an age of social media and branded merchandise.
Few are likely to expect The End Continues to reach the classic heights of the 1984 original, but that’s partly because so few comedies have. Here’s hoping it’s a fitting send-off for the writers of such rock standards as Stone Henge, Break Like The Wind and Big Bottom, though.
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues arrives in UK cinemas on the 12th September. Until then, here’s the trailer:
Our original story follows…
15th April 2025: Over 40 years on, one of the funniest movies of all time is getting a belated sequel. Spinal Tap II: The End Continues – a follow-up to 1984’s This Is Spinal Tap – is now finished, and has found US distribution via Bleecker Street, a distribution company that recently also distributed Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths. As a result, it’s getting a proper cinema release in US cinemas on the 12th September. The UK release is also the same day, and Sony Pictures has release rights over here.
Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer are all returning as the main players in the titular Spinal Tap – an earnest yet singularly clueless rock band whose popularity peaked in the 1970s. Directed by Rob Reiner (who also appeared in front of the camera as fictional documentary filmmaker Marty DiBergi), This Is Spinal Tap followed the band around on an increasingly calamitous US tour of smaller and smaller venues (and dressing rooms).
The film’s parodies of real-world rock bands of the 1970s and 80s – Saxon, Judas Priest, Status Quo and the like – was so uncannily accurate that musicians at the time were said to have walked out of screenings in a huff. All the same, it’s arguably one of the most quotable comedies of its era, from the wisdom of guitarist Nigel Tufnel (“We’ve got armadillos in our trousers – it’s really quite frightening”) to the running gag about the band’s succession of ill-fated drummers (“He died in a bizarre gardening accident”).
Reiner returned to direct the sequel, which filmed last year, and again plays Marty DiBergi. He’ll be joined by cameos from real-world rock royalty, including Elton John and Paul McCartney.
Of the acquisition, Bleecker Street bosses Andrew Karpen and Kent Sanderson wrote in a joint statement published by The Hollywood Reporter: “This Is Spinal Tap isn’t just a movie – it’s a cultural touchstone that pioneered the mockumentary genre and left an indelible mark on both film and music. Returning to this world through Spinal Tap II is an extraordinary chance to celebrate its legacy while creating something fresh for both new and devoted audiences.”
With Spinal Tap II now confirmed for release on the 12th September on both sides of the pond, we currently have a teaser trailer to tide us over. The sound’s in Dubly.
