LOS ANGELES — Spinal Tap has reunited — this time in a Los Angeles court to challenge the French studio Vivendi S.A. for millions in profits from the classic mockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap."
Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Rob Reiner on Tuesday joined a federal lawsuit filed by bandmate and Spinal Tap co-creator Harry Shearer.
Shearer, who also voices numerous characters on "The Simpsons," sued Vivendi S.A. and its subsidiary StudioCanal in October alleging the companies fraudulently withheld profits and the rights to the characters from the 1984 film. Reiner directed and narrated the classic satire of a fictional British rock band on the decline, whose hits included the songs "Sex Farm" and "Stonehenge."
Guest and McKean have teamed up on other satire films, including "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind," in which they were joined by Shearer.
"What makes this case so egregious is the prolonged and deliberate concealment of profit and the purposeful manipulation of revenue allocation between various Vivendi subsidiaries - to the detriment of the creative talent behind the band and film," Reiner wrote in a statement. "Such anti-competitive practices need to be exposed.
"I am hoping this lawsuit goes to 11," Reiner wrote, borrowing a line from the film.
"This is Spinal Tap was the result of four very stubborn guys working very hard to create something new under the sun," McKean wrote in a statement. "The movie's influence on the last three decades of film comedy is something we are very proud of. But the buck always stopped somewhere short of Rob, Harry, Chris and myself. It's time for a reckoning. It's only right."
Vivendi declined comment, citing a policy against discussing pending litigation.
