Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is out later this year, and director Rob Reiner has been out on the circuit teasing the film’s big rock star cameos.
Paul McCartney and Elton John have cameos in Spinal Tap II, which we learned about when the brief movie teaser dropped back in March. Reiner has now given us a bit more context for their appearances.
“It basically says: No matter how old you are, if you can still do it and still enjoy doing it, then do it,” Reiner told AARP in a recent interview.
Elton John, of course, held his farewell tour in recent years, the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour ending in July 2023. Meanwhile, McCartney announced a US tour just a few days ago.
“I asked Paul McCartney about this,” Reiner said. “I said, “There’s you, Mick Jagger, Elton John, and you still like to perform. What is it about you guys? Is it that you just love the music? And you love performing?” And he says, “Yeah. And the drugs.””
That’s apparently a joke in the new movie — we don’t think McCartney has a class-A habit at the age of 83.
“The point is, these guys just love doing it. If they’re given an opportunity, they’ll get in front of an audience and play,” said Reiner.
It’s a completely fitting sentiment for Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. The film sees original cast members Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer return to their roles as members of the not-entirely-fictional rock band Spinal Tap.
The band did, after all, play Glastonbury and Wembley arena back in 2009, in a 25th anniversary celebration of the original Spinal Tap movie.
To the best of our knowledge, the band last played in 2019, as part of the Tribeca Film Festival.
The band members are even very similar to Elton John and Paul McCartney in age. Guest and McKean are currently 77, while Harry Shearer is 81.
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues will also reportedly feature rock star cameo from Lars Ulrich, Chad Smith, Trisha Yearwood, Questlove and Garth Brooks, and is due in cinemas on September 12th.
Its production budget is estimated at $22.6 million. That’s peanuts in Marvel superhero terms, but is 10 times that of the original Spinal Tap.
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