When Stranger Things brought Kate Bush a meteoric new popularity spike, the impact was felt well beyond TikTok and streaming platforms. It’s what finally switched on the lightbulb for director Rob Reiner and the development of the long-awaited sequel of heavy metal mockumentary, This Is Spinal Tap; Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.
In an interview with Variety, Reiner explained that a challenge in creating the film, which follows a reunion and final concert of Spinal Tap after a 15-year hiatus, was deciding on a motivation for the return at all. For a band that “hadn’t played in 15 years,” as Reiner put it, it had to be realistic for the real-world industry.
“Well, what if a famous musician or someone starts screwing around with a Spinal Tap song, somebody catches it on an iPhone and puts it up on TikTok, it goes viral, and all of a sudden they become relevant again?” Reiner said.
If it worked for Bush, who received upwards of 2.3 million dollars from “Running Up That Hill” over 30 years after its release thanks to Stranger Things, it can likely help Spinal Tap dial things up to 11 once again.
Like the original, Reiner confirmed Spinal Tap II will be largely improvised around a pre-arranged structure, and is modelled partially on Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz.
Original cast members Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer are all returning as band members Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins, and Derek Smalls, alongside director Reiner as documentarian and Spinal Tap diehard Marty Dibergi.
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There’s also an impressive list of confirmed cameos, with Elton John, Paul McCartney, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Chad Smith, and Lars Ulrich all on the books. Will those drummers escape the Spinal Tap curse? We’ll have to wait for the film’s Friday, September 12th release date to find out.
