Rob Reiner stops by THR's suite at San Diego Comic-Con and talks about the legacy of 'This Is Spinal Tap' and dishes on where 'Spinal Tap II: The End Continues' picks up after 40 years later. Plus, he talks about how he incorporated pop culture into the second film.
00:00Here's the thing that's beautiful about Spinal Tap. They have not grown emotionally, musically, or artistically.
00:10They are stuck in that heavy metal world.
00:19I'm with The Hollywood Reporter sitting down with a legend and one of my favorite directors, man.
00:24I'm so excited to speak with you.
00:26So, first of all, congratulations on the bear this season.
00:29Oh, I had a great time doing that.
00:30I really enjoyed that.
00:31What a fun thing.
00:32I didn't know.
00:32The guy who created Chris Storr, he's a brilliant writer, great director, and he makes an atmosphere that is so comfortable.
00:42It makes you want to work there.
00:44And he works very similar to the way I work, which is he lets people be, lets them improvise.
00:49I had a great time.
00:50Now, we're discussing This Is Spinal Tap 2, which is something I have hoped for for quite some time.
00:56But the staying power of This Is Spinal Tap is so interesting to me because it was ahead of its time in its meta nature, which I want to talk about in a moment.
01:03But it feels like there's a surge lately, and the Hollywood Cemetery screening next week is selling out.
01:08And what do you think it is that makes it so timeless?
01:10You know, I don't know.
01:12I mean, what's weird is that when it first came out, nobody got it.
01:16I mean, they thought I made a movie about a real band that wasn't very good.
01:21And why wouldn't I make a movie about the Beatles or the Rolling Stones?
01:24It took a while before people really caught on to it and understood that we were making fun.
01:30We were having fun with it.
01:31And then over the years, it kind of, we had created like a parallel universe for Spinal Tap.
01:38You know, we didn't talk about other bands.
01:39But then, all of a sudden, the real world started creeping in.
01:43You know, they played Glastonbury.
01:44They played Royal Albert Hall and Wembley Stadium.
01:47And every rock band we talked to, they all said, oh, my God, it's just like what we do on tour.
01:53They keep the tape on the tour bus.
01:55They watch it over and over.
01:56Sting saw it and he said, every time I see it, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
02:02So somehow we've seeped into the culture.
02:05The Oxford English Dictionary now has this goes to 11 as a thing that's not just about loud music,
02:12but about anything in excess.
02:14And we're part of the Library of Congress, the National Film Registry.
02:19So here we are.
02:20I mean, we never thought in a million years it was going to happen like this.
02:24Now, The End Continues is one of those perfect subtitles.
02:27I love that it's Spinal Dap 2, The End Continues.
02:30Where do we find these folks 40 years after the original but also 50 years after retirement?
02:35Where are we with them?
02:36Well, what happens is we find out that they – and this we took from real life,
02:42which is the guys had not played with each other in 15 years.
02:47So we said, okay, what would cause them to get back together again?
02:51We created this whole idea that there's bad blood.
02:54They're not speaking to each other.
02:56What's going on?
02:56And you find that out in the course of the film.
02:59But they now are forced together because of a contract that was the last performance they had to give.
03:06It was a contract when their manager, Ian Faith, died, which is the real guy, Tony Hendrick, died.
03:13And the daughter takes it over and says, well, I mean, what am I going to do with this contract?
03:17It's worthless.
03:18They don't play together.
03:19Then there's a big rock, big music star screwing around at a sound check.
03:24He sings Big Bottom.
03:26It's caught on an iPhone.
03:29They throw it up on TikTok.
03:31And, you know, it goes viral.
03:33And then, okay, now we'll play.
03:35We'll play.
03:36And they go to New Orleans and play their last concert.
03:38But if you notice, it says the end continues.
03:42These people never stop.
03:43They never stop.
03:45Crank it up to 11, man.
03:46Yeah.
03:47Now, this is a story that it sounds like is using a lot of real-life events incorporating into the story.
03:52And the meta nature of pop culture has really changed since the 80s.
03:56I consider this and The Last Action Hero two of the most ahead-of-their-time movies of pop culture's going to catch up to them.
04:02Did you incorporate any of the meta nature of the present into the film?
04:05Well, here's the thing that's beautiful about Spinal Tap.
04:09They have not grown emotionally, musically, or artistically.
04:16They are stuck in that heavy metal world.
04:19But the world is, you know, moving on around them.
04:22So they have to, you know, they have to make do what they can.
04:25They have to figure it out.
04:27Now, in real life, I heard you made Tom Waits cry.
04:29I've heard that Ozzy thought it was real.
04:31I know that it has joined the many esteemed lists that I'm imagining wasn't part of the plan.
04:37What's been the most surprising ramification of the first film?
04:39Well, it's the craziest thing where we took from real life and we put it in the film.
04:48Like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers get lost backstage.
04:52The first keyboarders that played with Spinal Tap, they got booked into an Air Force base.
04:57We used this.
04:57We saw about the Endless Party in Rolling Stone where Van Halen was making demands about what was going to be in their rider backstage.
05:05We made a thing out of it.
05:07And then we had this whole thing about drummers dying, which a lot of drummers, you know, Spinal Tap has had 11 drummers pass away.
05:13It's a very dangerous gig.
05:14And we have, you'll see in the film, there's Chad Smith from Red Hot Chili Peppers and Lars Ulrich and Questlove, you know, Fallon's drummer.
05:23And they all are very nervous about taking this gig on because they don't want to take their lives in their hands.
05:28But it just kind of folds into itself in that, like this Mobius strip where life and art and life and art.
05:37And the real thing that happened is the craziest thing was Toto.
05:43And we have Steve Lukather talks about, he's not in the film, but he did part in the book.
05:48I did a book for Simon & Schuster also about this.
05:52And Steve Lukather talks about his experience.
05:55And, you know, there was Jeff Porcaro and Steve Porcaro and Toto.
06:00And, you know, Jeff Porcaro, he died of a bizarre gardening accident.
06:05You cannot make this stuff up.
06:08I mean, and we had a guy in the first film who died of a bizarre gardening accident.
06:13I love that you somehow did make this stuff up and you can't make this stuff up.
06:16Like, what a beautiful thing.
06:18And then it happens.
06:19It's crazy.
06:20Now, on to the macro, zooming out a little bit.
06:22I mentioned cranking things up to 11 almost weekly, this being included Library of Congress.
06:26But also, like, I think about Bucket List because of that film.
06:29I say you can't handle the truth.
06:31There's so many moments that you've influenced in pop culture.
06:33Has there been any of those that you were shocked that people took to?
06:36Or has it all been kind of just rolling with it?
06:38Here's the crazy thing.
06:39And you just mentioned Bucket List.
06:41You just mentioned.
06:42Where do you think that came from?
06:45Now, I have to imagine there's something that preceded the book.
06:47And I know with Fast and the Furious, it was an article.
06:50Was the Bucket List an original?
06:51It was made up for the movie.
06:54No way.
06:55The movie that I directed with Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman.
06:58Everybody thinks that that thing has been around for a million years.
07:03We made it up for the movie.
07:05And that, to me, is a surprise.
07:07That people think, oh, it's on my bucket list.
07:09I want that on my Bucket List.
07:10I want to, you know, that's on my Bucket List.
07:12And you hear it all the time.
07:13That's a weird one for me.
07:15That is incredible.
07:16Yeah, I literally think of it as part of culture.
07:18Yeah, I know.
07:19And people think it's, you know, it's been around for a million years.
07:21Yeah.
07:21Now, I got to host the only ever reunion of The Princess Bride at Megacon.
07:25I got to host Robin Wright's only con appearance.
07:27It's me, Carrie, Chris, everyone.
07:29That is one of, I think, the only perfect films.
07:31And be ashamed to ruin it.
07:33Is that film something that you'd love to see brought into a sequel like Spinal Tap?
07:37Or do you want it left alone?
07:38No, I would, because Bill Goldman, who wrote the book that the movie is based on, he wrote
07:43the screenplay for the movie.
07:45He was a dear friend.
07:46I loved him.
07:47And he's not with us anymore.
07:49And when I first met him to make the movie, he said, this is my favorite thing I've ever
07:54written.
07:54I want it on my tombstone.
07:56And basically that, you know, what are you going to do with it?
07:59And I told him I was going to be very respectful of it.
08:02I would never do anything unless I had his blessing.
08:05And I, you know, obviously can't get that now.
08:08So to me, that movie stays where it is.
08:11I love that.
08:11That's beautiful.
08:12And last couple of questions for you, because I know you guys have a big, big press day,
08:15but Once Upon a Deadpool used Princess Bride as like a through line to make it a PG-13
08:19cut.
08:20Did you ever get to see any of this?
08:21I never saw it.
08:23I never saw it.
08:23So basically they had Deadpool reading Fred a bedtime story and they intercut moments
08:27of the Princess Bride into the film.
08:29That's hysterical.
08:30Have you ever been a part of anything mockumentary like Spinal Tap as much as Once Upon a Deadpool?
08:35No, no, that's unbelievable.
08:37Yeah.
08:37They made it a PG-13 film out of an R-8 and using it.
08:40It's some magic.
08:41And now are you a comic?
08:42Yeah, go ahead.
08:43No, no, no.
08:43Are you a comic person?
08:44Because this is the world of comics.
08:46I was just saying, you know, as we're driving over here, when I was a kid, I had a huge comic
08:51book collection and mostly DC.
08:53I was big into Superman, but you know, there was other DC characters and, but to me, Superman
08:58was the, that was the guy.
08:59I am so happy you said that.
09:01Literally, I was hoping that was an answer.
09:02The entire press tour, David Cornswet, our new Superman.
09:05We snuck in Princess Bride references throughout the entire press tour.
09:09That's one of his favorite movies of all time.
09:10So I just did six months in Superman and Princess Bride was our through line.
09:14So I wanted to thank you.
09:15That's really cool.
09:15Yeah.
09:15No, I love Superman.
09:17I like, and my, one of my favorite things, cause I listened, I used to not only read the
09:21comic books, but that was the TV show called, you know, Superman before the movies.
09:25Yeah.
09:25The fifties.
09:26Yeah.
09:26In the fifties.
09:26And there was a great joke.
09:28This guy, David Brenner used to do.
09:30I loved it.
09:31He was like, you see, Superman would get trapped in a warehouse, right?
09:35He'd get trapped in a warehouse and the bad guy would shoot at Superman with six shots,
09:40you know, and Superman would stand like this and bing, bing, bing, bing.
09:44The bullets would come bounce off his chest.
09:46Then he'd run out of bullets, the bad guy, and he'd throw the gun at Superman and Superman
09:50would go like that.
09:52He'd duck.
09:53What is he ducking?
09:54If he's not going to get killed by the bullets, certainly the gun's not going to hurt him,
09:59but he always ducked from that.
10:00The rights have proved in the last seven years.
10:02We've, we've noticed these flaws.
10:03And the last bit of a moment I want to spend is I loved how much Ozzy seemed to be involved
10:08in the journey of the original.
10:10Were there any moments that, that stick with you as we, we just lost the man this week?
10:13Yeah.
10:14I mean, it's, it's sad, you know, it's sad.
10:16I mean, we were just talking about him because he had his last concert in, in, in England.
10:22And, and, and he, apparently, you know, he was in a wheelchair, but they wheeled him out
10:26and he, he sang and stuff.
10:29And then the next thing you know, you hear this.
10:31And we did a little tribute to him that he put up on his Instagram page and just said,
10:36it said Ozzy forever.
10:38And it says, you know, there are, there, there are no amps loud enough to honor this rock legend.
10:46So there, there, and he, listen, he set the tone for everybody.
10:49And first, when he first saw the movie, he got upset because he said, it's like our real life.
10:54But then after a while, he, he got to like it.
10:57What a legacy.
10:58What a, what a beautiful thing.
10:59And I'm so excited for the end continuing, man.
11:01I think this is the perfect time for Spinal Tap to have a sequel.
11:04So excited to hear all of this.
11:06And thank you for making it for the first.
11:08I listen, come to the movie theater.
11:10You should go to the movie theater because it's a comedy.
11:12You have to watch it with an audience, share it with a crowd, laugh with people, see it in theaters.
