SPINAL TAP RE-FORMS FOR £300m LAWSUIT

THE stars of cult movie This Is Spinal Tap have staged a comeback to sue a film studio for £320m.

Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and comedian Harry Shearer say they are owed the money for creating the hit mockumentary.

Reiner, Guest and McKean have joined a lawsuit filed last year by Shearer ( pictured far right in the film) against French company Vivendi and its subsidiary Studio Canal. They claim profits from the movie, its music and its merchandise have been withheld, and that the company engaged in anti-competitive and unfair business practices as well as fraudulent accounting.

Reiner directed and narrated the 1984 spoof documentary about the British rock band.

The stars are seeking £320m in compensatory and punitive damages from Vivendi, up from the £100m originally claimed by Shearer. The lawsuit says the creators have been told that global music sales from the soundtrack album total just £78 and they are only entitled to share £65 between them from global merchandising sales.

Reiner, who also directed The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally and A Few Good Men, said: ‘Such anti-competitive practices need to be exposed. I am hoping this lawsuit goes to 11.’

Vivendi failed to comment.