Gallery Books has set a September 9, 2025 release date for a new behind-the-scenes book about the making of the groundbreaking mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap” and its upcoming sequel, “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues”.

In “A Fine Line Between Stupid And Clever: The Story Of Spinal Tap”, director Rob Reiner and co-creators Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer provide for the first time the full behind-the-scenes story of the making of the two films.

Since its original release in 1984, “This Is Spinal Tap” has evolved from a beloved cult film into a cinematic landmark: an all-time comedy classic that pioneered an entire genre, the mockumentary. Now, Reiner, Guest, McKean and Shearer tell the complete story of the movie and its fictitious band — how they met, how “Spinal Tap” came to be, and how their low-budget indie film took on a life of its own. Years after the movie first came out, the Library Of Congress selected “This Is Spinal Tap” for inclusion in the National Film Registry and TAP went on to play the Royal Albert Hall, Wembley Stadium and to over 100,000 fans at the Glastonbury festival in England.

Reiner, Guest, McKean and Shearer provide the backstories to the movie’s famous lines — among them “Hello, Cleveland!,” “None more black,” “You can’t dust for vomit,” and “These go to eleven” — and to such TAP anthems as “Big Bottom” and “Stonehenge”. Featuring never-before-seen photographs, band memorabilia, and personal reminiscences of their enduring creative partnership, “A Fine Line Between Stupid And Clever” will delight TAP-heads of all ages — just as the long-awaited “Spinal Tap” sequel is hitting theaters.

But wait, there’s more! “A Fine Line Between Stupid And Clever” also comes with a bonus memoir by Reiner‘s directorial alter ego, Marty DiBergi, in which he interviews TAP bandmembers Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins and Derek Smalls about their musical journey and their drummers who paid the ultimate sacrifice to the rock gods.

“Spinal Tap II: The End Continues” will receive a theatrical release on September 12.

Bleecker Street has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues”, which reunites Reiner with Guest, McKean and Shearer as they reprise their iconic roles as the legendary heavy metal band SPINAL TAP in this long-awaited sequel. The indie studio, founded by Andrew Karpen in 2014, also landed the rights for the original “This Is Spinal Tap”, which has been newly restored and will be re-released in theaters over the summer. That new version will also hit digital and streaming platforms, making it the first time the film has been available digitally in years.

Reiner has returned to direct and write, and original stars/writers uest, McKean and Shearer are reprising their roles as Nigel Tufnel, David St Hubbins and Derek Smalls, respectively. Reiner will also return as the documentarian Martin “Marty” DiBergi.

In the sequel, the fictional heavy metal group reunites after a 15-year hiatus for one final concert. Music legends Elton John, Paul McCartney, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are all set to make cameos.

The “Spinal Tap” sequel will also see the return of Fran Drescher, who will reprise her role as the band’s publicist, Bobbi Flekman, from the original 1984 movie. The film will also feature newcomers John Michael Higgins, Jason Acuña, Don Lake, Nina Conti, Griffin Matthews, Kerry Godliman, Chris Addison, Brad Williams and musician Paul Shaffer.

In 2022, Reiner told Deadline about the decision to release a new “Spinal Tap” movie: “For so many years, we said, ‘nah.’ It wasn’t until we came up with the right idea how to do this. You don’t want to just do it, to do it. You want to honor the first one and push it a little further with the story.”

As for the new movie’s premise, Reiner said: “They’ve played Albert Hall, played Wembley Stadium, all over the country and in Europe. They haven’t spent any time together recently. The idea was that Ian Faith, who was their manager, he passed away. In reality, Tony Hendra 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.”

Regarding his role in the upcoming film, Reiner said: “I’m back playing Marty DiBergi. The band was upset with the first film. They thought I did a hatchet job and this is a chance to redeem myself. I am such a big fan and I felt bad they didn’t like what they saw in the first film. When I heard they might get back together, I was a visiting adjunct teacher’s helper at the Ed Wood School of Cinematic Arts. I drop everything to document this final concert.”

“This Is Spinal Tap” has become a cult classic since its first theatrical run 41 years ago. The film was produced independently on a shoestring budget of $2.25 million by a company owned by the four creators, Reiner, Guest, McKean and Shearer. Two years in production, the film was released in 1984. It soon became a cult favorite and spawned a genre that has come to be known as “mockumentary,” inspiring many subsequent filmmakers. Phrases from the film’s script have entered the general lexicon, including “none more black” and “it goes to 11,” the latter phrase exemplified by the Tesla car, whose audio system’s volume control goes to 11, as does that on the BBC‘s iPlayer.

Its reputation as one of the 20th Century’s most enduring comedies has increased exponentially in the ensuing years. The film has garnered international praise and acclaim, having been included in “best ever” lists such as The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made; Total Film‘s 100 Greatest Movies of All Time list; Entertainment Weekly‘s 100 Greatest Movies of All Time where it appeared on the “Just Too Beloved to Ignore” list; and achieving the coveted No. 1 spot on Time Out London‘s 100 Best Comedy Movies list.

In 2002, the film’s lasting appeal led the U.S. Library of Congress (the world’s largest cultural collection), to designate it as a culturally, historically or aesthetically significant film.

Although “This Is Spinal Tap” was first released in 1984 in the U.S. and U.K., the band SPINAL TAP was actually created in the late 1970s. The band’s rock musician characters “Nigel Tufnel” and “David St. Hubbins” were created by Christopher Guest and Michael McKean, with Harry Shearer creating bassist “Derek Smalls.” SPINAL TAP‘s comedic sole claim to fame was as “one of England’s loudest bands.” Performing as their beloved stage personae in the company of a rotating cast of percussionists willing to risk the kit (as so many of their predecessors have been accident prone), SPINAL TAP has toured the world multiple times since the film’s release. Hundreds of thousands of SPINAL TAP sound recordings have been sold over the ensuing decades and the film has been released on scores of video formats through the years.

In 2019, the band’s creators concluded a new agreement with Universal Music Group. The band’s recording of a full-length SPINAL TAP album featuring songs from the film is still available for physical sale, download and streaming today from UMG.

“This Is Spinal Tap” was released to little fanfare with some viewers convinced the bumbling dinosaurs — who had a knack of losing drummers in freak accidents — on screen were a genuine band. But word of mouth about the smartly observed film, which took a pop at bands such as STATUS QUO, LED ZEPPELIN and BLACK SABBATH, spread and it became a sleeper hit.

According to the Belfast Telegraph, McKean, Guest and Shearer prepared several scenes with Reiner but then ad-libbed. At the end of filming, they had more than 40 hours of footage, which was edited down to a more manageable form.

When “This Is Spinal Tap” was released, not everybody got that it was a “mockumentary.” U2‘s The Edge immediately embraced it, saying: “I didn’t laugh, I wept. It was so close to the truth.” Ozzy Osbourne didn’t understand it, saying the first time he watched it, he thought it was a real documentary. Early home video versions of the movie reportedly even had a disclaimer at the start and finish of the movie stating the band didn’t really exist.