This Is Spinal Tap Sequel Begins Filming

Production on the sequel to This Is Spinal Tap is officially underway in New Orleans.

Castle Rock Entertainment confirmed the news on Monday, while also revealing a list of celebrity cameos set to join the legendary heavy metal band: Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney, Questlove, Garth Brooks, and Trisha Yearwood, among others.

Arriving 40 years after the original Spinal Tap film, the sequel will see the band reunite for “one final concert.” Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer are back as Spinal Tap band members Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins, and Derek Smalls, respectively, while Rob Reiner will reprise the role of documentarian Martin “Marty” DiBergi (in addition to serving as the actual film’s director).

Speaking about the sequel in an interview with NME last year, Reiner explained that DiBergi is getting a chance to redeem himself after his first documentary. “DiBergi was roundly criticized by the band members for having done a hatchet job, [but] he’s going to be doing the second film… Marty has not been that successful [since]. I think he made Kramer vs Kramer vs Godzilla, which didn’t do very well.”

In a separate interview with Deadline, Reiner expanded on the film’s plot, revealing that “the idea was that Ian Faith, who was their manager, he passed away…. Ian’s widow inherited a contract that said Spinal Tap owed them one more concert. She was basically going to sue them if they didn’t. All these years and a lot of bad blood we’ll get into and they’re thrown back together and forced to deal with each other and play this concert.”

A release date for the film has not yet been set.

For more on Spinal Tap, revisit our round up on the funniest moments from This Is Spinal Tap, and read our classic movie review.