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After relaunching its film division in October, Castle Rock Entertainment announced their first project out of the gate will be a sequel to the 1984 cult classic This Is Spinal Tap. Academy Award nominated Rob Reiner (When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men, The Princess Bride) made his directorial debut and will return as filmmaker Marty DiBergi to helm the sequel, which will reunite David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer), and Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), the nucleus of England’s loudest and most punctual heavy metal band.
This Is Spinal Tap will screen at the Cannes Film Festival as a part of the Cinema de la Plage sidebar on Wednesday, May 18th. The film was released to critical acclaim in 1984 and went on to become a cult classic. In 2002, it was deemed "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress, and was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry.
“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.
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.
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.