Metallica’s Lars Ulrich and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith will cameo in Spinal Tap II, according to a new casting announcement, via Deadline. The two drummers—an ill-fated profession in the world of Spinal Tap—will join original cast members Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer, plus fellow nonfictional musicians Paul McCartney, Elton John, and Questlove.
The publicist in the original movie (and, now, the president of SAG-AFTRA) Fran Drescher is also back, as is original director and in-movie mockumentarian Rob Reiner and former Late Night With David Letterman bandleader Paul Shaffer. New cast additions include Kerry Godliman, Chris Addison, John Michael Higgins, Don Lake, Jason Acuña, Nina Conti, Griffin Matthews, and Brad Williams.
Plans to release Spinal Tap II this March, to coincide with the film’s 40th anniversary, were scuppered by the Hollywood strikes. The film will portray the band reuniting after a 15-year hiatus for a blowout comeback concert. A new release date has not been set.
The original Spinal Tap drummer, Ric Parnell, died in 2022. “No one ever rocked harder,” Harry Shearer said at the time.
