‘This Is Spinal Tap’ director Rob Reiner has addressed Black Sabbath’s accusations that the film stole their Stonehenge stage concept. He shared his perspective on the controversy in a recent interview with Screen Rant.
Reiner’s comments focused on Black Sabbath’s reaction when they discovered the film featured a similar Stonehenge theme to their own stage production.
“Black Sabbath was doing a tour [without Ozzy Osbourne], and they came out about two or three weeks before our film came out, [and they had Stonehenge],” Reiner said. “They saw our film and they were furious that we had stolen the Stonehenge theme from them.”
The director expressed his disbelief at the band’s timeline assumptions regarding film production.
“To me, it was the best thing, because what morons,” he continued. “What did they think? They [thought] that we shot the film, we edited it, [and] we got it into the theaters in two weeks? I mean, it is ludicrous. But to me, that was the great, perfect heavy metal moment: that they were so dumb that they thought that we stole it from them.”
The controversy becomes even more ironic when considering the actual history behind Black Sabbath’s own Stonehenge stage production and its notorious mishaps.
Ultimate Classic Rock revealed that Black Sabbath’s Stonehenge set was originally intended to be a grand spectacle but ended up being comically oversized. The massive structure was so large that it couldn’t fit in most venues. This led to it being left on the docks in New York. This real-life blunder would later inspire one of the most famous scenes in ‘This Is Spinal Tap,’ though with a reversed twist.
Guitar World reported that Don Arden, Black Sabbath’s manager, was behind the idea of using Stonehenge as a backdrop. The concept was meant to capture the dramatic effect of the sun rising behind the ancient monument during performances. However, the execution fell far short of the ambitious vision.
The mishap showcased in ‘This Is Spinal Tap’ ironically reversed Black Sabbath’s error. Dangerous Minds noted this creative reversal. While Black Sabbath’s Stonehenge was too big to fit through venue doors, the fictional band’s version was comically too small. This creative decision by the filmmakers turned a real industry blunder into one of cinema’s most memorable comedy moments.
The incident highlights how life often imitates art in the music industry. Black Sabbath’s actual Stonehenge disaster became the perfect example of the kind of over-the-top mishaps that ‘This Is Spinal Tap’ was designed to satirize.
