Ready to rock?
Castle Rock Entertainment, Rob Reiner’s company that recently re-launched its film division after going somewhat dormant, is back and with a big new project to shop around the Cannes Film Festival: “Spinal Tap 2,” a sequel to 1984’s immortal comedy classic “This Is Spinal Tap.” And what’s more – everybody is back, including Reiner (as director and in the film as Marty DiBergi), Harry Shearer, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest, Castle Rock announced in a statement.
“When it was announced that Spinal Tap would reunite for one final concert, Marty DeBergi saw this as a chance to make things right with the band who viewed ‘This Is Spinal Tap’ as a hatchet job. So he left his position as visiting adjunct teacher’s assistant at the Ed Wood School of Cinematic Arts in pursuit of film history,” said Reiner in a statement.
Specific plot details for “Spinal Tap 2” haven’t been revealed but it’ll be another faux documentary chronicling the sunset years of England’s most controversial rock band and navigating a very different pop culture landscape. (If you thought “Smell the Glove” was offensive back then!)
Guest, McKean, Reiner, and Shearer will conceive the new film. Frank Marshall will produce and Castle Rock will finance with Matthew George, Jonathan Fuhrman, and Hernan Narea serving as executive producers on Castle Rock’s behalf.
The package should generate a lot of interest at Cannes, especially since they are showing the original film on the beach as part of the Cinema de la Plage sidebar on Wednesday, May 18. In the years since the movie was released, it has become a certifiable cult classic, so this kind of oversized praise at a prestigious film festival and an all-hands-on-deck legacy sequel seem par for the course.
Castle Rock Entertainment relaunched with a $175MM film fund under CEO Rob Reiner, and Co-Presidents Matthew George and Michele Reiner. The company will fully finance the project with CAA Media Finance handling worldwide sales and introducing the film at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.
The sequel will be released to coincide with the 40th anniversary of “This Is Spinal Tap” in early 2024. Special guest performers will be announced at a later date.
Reiner most recently directed the 2017 political drama “Shock and Awe” and the 2016 presidential biopic “LBJ.”