Long-in-gestation sequel Spinal Tap II: The End Continues has been picked up for distribution in the US, with its cinema release set for September 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. With any luck, it’ll appear in our fleapits not too long after.
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.”
There’s currently no word as to when Spinal Tap II will emerge outside the US, but we’ll keep you posted as we learn more. In the meantime, do have a teaser trailer. The sound’s in Dubly.
