[imagesource:flickr/kevindooley]

To most folks in the music industry the 1984 mockumentary, This Is Spinal Tap, is an unimpeachable gaze into everything that was both right, wrong, and ridiculous in rock and roll during the spandex and ‘big hair’ days.

The man behind some of the best one-liners in music, Rob Reiner, has now confirmed that filming for Spinal Tap II will begin in late February 2024, with the original band members said to return. Joining the cockiest rockers ever will be non-other than rock royalty Elton John and  Paul McCartney.

The original Spinal Tap, in the form of Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer, will reprise their roles as Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins, and Derek Smalls, respectively. Reiner will also play Marty DiBergi, the fictional director who films Spinal Tap in the 1984 movie.

Speaking as DiBergi, Reiner said: “The band was upset with the first film. They thought I did a hatchet job and this is a chance to redeem myself. I am such a big fan and I felt bad they didn’t like what they saw in the first film.”

Thanks to the months-long Hollywood writer’s strike, the film’s original release date of March 2024 was pushed back, missing the 40th anniversary of the rock classic.

This Is Spinal Tap, which was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry and deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the US Library of Congress, was primarily improvised by the actors, with only a ‘loose script’ to guide them.

For fans of the movie, this comes as good news, albeit with some reservations over whether the ‘new’ film will be able to capture the originality of the first. Hopefully, the release will introduce a new generation of fans to one of the greatest bands to have never really existed.

For those who have not yet had the privilege of experiencing the musical genius of this rock powerhouse, turn up your volume to 11, and enjoy:

[source:pitchfork]