Billboard Women in Music 2025
EXCLUSIVE: Bleecker Street is teaming with Fathom Entertainment on the re-release of Rob Reiner’s big hair rock mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap which will play theaters nationwide July 5-7.
Created by Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer, This Is Spinal Tap chronicles England’s loudest and most punctual band on their disaster-filled U.S. tour. The reissue is remastered, remixed, and in definitive 4k restoration.
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All of this is ahead of Bleecker Street’s Sept. 12 release of Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.
Box office domestic for This Is Spinal Tap was under $5M unadjusted for inflation per Box Office Mojo, however, this was a big 1980s video title for the Gen X bunch. In 2002, the movie was deemed “culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress, and was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry.
This Is Spinal Tap marks Bleecker Street and Fathom Entertainment’s third partnership, following Guy Nattiv’s Golda and Waitress: The Musical starring Sara Bareilles, both of which were released in 2023.
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues once again sees Reiner directing, with Guest, McKean, and Shearer reprising their iconic roles as the legendary heavy metal band Spinal Tap. The film follows England’s loudest and most punctual band as they reunite after a 15-year hiatus for one final concert. Also featured in the sequel will be be cameos from music legends Elton John, Paul McCartney, and Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, as well as appearances from Paul Shaffer, Fran Drescher, Don Lake, John Michael Higgins, Nina Conti, Griffin Matthews, Kerry Godliman, and Chris Addison.
Spinal Tap II is produced by Reiner, Michele Reiner and Matthew George and financed under the Castle Rock Entertainment banner. Derrick J. Rossi PhD, Hernan Narea, Jonathan Fuhrman, and Christopher H. Warner executive produced the film.
Bleecker’s upcoming 2025 slate also includes crowd-pleasing rom-com The Wedding Banquet, from director Andrew Ahn which stars Lily Gladstone, Bowen Yang, and Yuh-jung Youn (Minari) which had its world premiere in Sundance and will open April 18; Fall festival hit The Friend, starring Naomi Watts, Bill Murray, Ann Dowd, Constance Wu, and Bing the Great Dane, opening in NY March 28 and nationwide April 4; and thriller Relay starring Riz Ahmed, Lily James, and Sam Worthington, which premiered at TIFF and will be released this summer.