Plot
Around forty years after the first film, director Marty DiBergi creates a documentary of the reunion/final show of legendary rock band Spın̈al Tap, including original members Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins, and Derek Smalls. [6] He visits Hope Faith, the daughter of Spın̈al Tap's original manager Ian Faith, and finds that she inherited a contract requiring Tap to perform one more concert. Marty goes on to reunite with Nigel, former Tap lead guitarist, who now runs a cheese-and-guitar shop with girlfriend Moira and plays guitar in a local folk band. Marty then goes to David, former Tap guitarist/lead singer, who produces music for true-crime podcasts and on-hold phone music. David's wife, Jeanine, has become a nun. Marty finally visits Derek, former Tap bassist, now curator of a glue museum (Derek gets a glue-bottle stuck up his nose), who has composed a symphonic work called "Hell Toupee". [a] Although tension exists between Nigel and David, the trio agree to perform once more, though they need a drummer, as all their previous ones mysteriously died. They discuss how although the band has not performed for 15 years, interest in their music has increased after a video of Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood performing Tap's "Big Bottom" went viral.
Finding a sleazy promoter who cannot comprehend music, Simon Howler, Tap voyages to New Orleans to practice; their concert will fill an arena slot vacated by Stormy Daniels. Questlove, Chad Smith, and Lars Ulrich turn down their offers to be drummer; auditions go badly, but eventually, a spirited young rocker woman, Didi Crockett, successfully auditions. Keyboardist CJ "Caucasian Jerry" Vanston also comes on board. However, old manager Bobbi Flekman reveals that the band stressed her so much that she became a Buddhist; PR man Artie Fufkin now sells tube men to car dealerships.
The band, living in a "ghost house" tourist attraction, must endure being served a whole-alligator supper while tourists with "ghost meters" wander through. It is revealed that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame rejected Tap's membership with a letter saying, "Fuck off, sincerely yours"; Hope and Simon propose that Tap establish their own hall of fame, the design for which resembles an IHOP site, featuring themselves. Nigel shows Marty a cavity in his guitar for storing cheese and a grater. As the band reflects on aging and death, Derek composes a song, "Rockin' in the Urn". Rehearsals are fraught, as Nigel and David fail to connect musically. However, Paul McCartney drops by and offers advice, telling Marty that "Big Bottom" is "almost literature". Elton John also drops by, though Simon derides him, and sings Tap's "Flower People", and agrees to sing "Stonehenge".
The stage manager makes a huge model of a woman's buttocks for "Big Bottom", which emits flatulent sounds, annoying the band. Didi requests that her drum platform be moved closer to the band. Derek makes an unsuccessful pass at Didi, who calls her girlfriend into the room. Simon tries to make Tap exercise with a personal trainer, as he wants them to dance like a K-pop boy band. Earlier, he had proposed that at least one of the band die in concert, to produce a financially-valuable tribute opportunity. Simon abandons Tap, claiming he must visit his birth mother. David accuses Nigel of adultery with Jeanine, which Nigel denies.
David, frustrated, takes a walk in New Orleans, seeing a bluesman singing a song which reminds him of good old days with Nigel; he tells Nigel he forgives him, though Nigel again pleads his innocence. As the concert finally begins, the crowds cheer Tap's performance of old hits. However, as "Stonehenge" unfolds, with Elton John at the piano, a huge stone monument descends from the ceiling, teetering precariously on the edge of Didi's relocated drum platform. Two little people in druid robes accidentally knock down the prop, which crushes the piano, Elton, and the trio. Elton screams, "Fuck Spinal Tap!" The four recover in a hospital room. Later, Derek tells Marty that he was the one who had an affair with Jeanine. As Marty congratulates Didi on being the only surviving Tap drummer, she chokes on her meal and Marty gives her the Heimlich maneuver.
Production
Background
Following the 1984 release of This Is Spinal Tap , its creators—Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Rob Reiner—were embroiled in a protracted legal struggle over the film's rights and profits. In 2016, Shearer filed a lawsuit against Vivendi and its StudioCanal division, alleging "Hollywood accounting", mismanagement of trademarks, and grossly inadequate earnings, reporting that he had received only $81 from merchandising and $98 from music sales over decades. [13] [14] [15] The suit initially sought as much as $400 million in damages and reclaiming rights under the Copyright Act. [16] In addition, the group sued Universal Music Group over soundtrack royalties, also citing grossly insufficient compensation, and reached a settlement in 2019. [17]
By late 2020, after four years of litigation, it was determined that from January 1, 2021, all rights—including characters, trademarks, and licensing—will be handled by a newly formed entity, Authorized Spinal Tap LLC, wholly owned by the four creators, restoring their control over the original film and its associated intellectual property. [18]
Development
It was announced in May 2022 that a sequel to This Is Spinal Tap was in development, with Reiner, Guest, McKean, and Shearer reprising their roles and Reiner returning as director. [19] Though Reiner had deliberately avoided making sequels, the unexpected cultural resurgence of Kate Bush through Stranger Things , combined with ongoing fan interest and the cast's frustration over receiving little to no profit from the original film's home media and international sales, led him to move forward. [20] The 2021 death of Tony Hendra, who played Spinal Tap's original manager Ian Faith, influenced a storyline about his character having willed a contract to his daughter, Hope Faith, which calls for one last concert, forcing the band to reunite after 15 years of not playing together. [20] In November 2023, Reiner announced that the musicians Paul McCartney, Elton John and Garth Brooks were set to make cameo appearances as themselves. [21]
On a budget of $22.6 million (before tax incentives), [4] filming began in New Orleans in March 2024, [22] with Questlove and Trisha Yearwood included among the cameo appearances. [23] Fran Drescher was announced at the end of March to be reprising her role as Bobbi Flekman, with John Michael Higgins and Chris Addison among the new additions. [24] Paul Shaffer, who played the inept promo man Artie Fufkin in the original film, was also announced as being in the cast. [25] Like the original film, the production was only loosely scripted so as to be largely improvised by the actors in two to three takes of each scene. [26] Scenes were filmed with a dual digital camera setup, allowing scenes to be captured spontaneously. [27] Live concert footage was filmed at Stonehenge, Wiltshire, in August 2025 [28] which was not used in the film. The footage was originally to be released in cinemas as the film concert Spinal Tap at Stonehenge: The Final Finale in 2026, but was delayed indefinitely after Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner were killed in December 2025. [29] [30]
Release
In July 2024, Reiner estimated that the film would be released in mid-2025 through Warner Bros. Pictures as a potential theatrical distributor. [31] In March 2025, Bleecker Street announced their acquisition of U.S. rights to Spinal Tap II, now subtitled The End Continues, as well as its predecessor, with a teaser revealing a theatrical release date of September 12, 2025. [32] In April 2025, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions, which already held international free television and Advertising Video on Demand (AVoD) syndication rights to the original, acquired all international rights to both films. [33] The film was originally set for release on March 2024 but was delayed by the 2023 Hollywood strikes. [34]
Spinal Tap released their fourth album, The End Continues , produced by Interscope Records, containing both new and re-recorded Spinal Tap songs featuring Elton John, Paul McCartney, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood. [35] [36] Additionally, a behind-the-scenes book about the making of the original film and sequel, A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap, written by Reiner, Guest, McKean, and Shearer, was released on September 9. [37]
To promote the film, an IMAX preview event, On, Off, and Around: The Record Live Event, was held on September 10 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles and live streamed to other IMAX theatres across the country, featuring a live Q&A session with the cast in character. [38]
