Harry Shearer sues after Spinal Tap stars made less than £165 from classic movie

Harry Shearer is suing the French company which owns classic spoof ‘This Is Spinal Tap’ over alleged dodgy accounting practices.

It’s claimed that the stars of the movie made just $81 from merchandising between 1984 and 2006, and $98 in music sales from 1989 to 2006. That’s less than £165.

– Game of Thrones director to helm live action Mulan
– Michael Fassbender gets stabby in the new Assassin’s Creed trailer
– Michael Moore has made a secret Donald Trump movie

Shearer, who played bassist Derek Smalls in the movie, is seeking ‘not less than $125 million in compensatory and punitive damages’ from Vivendi, the parent company of Studio Canal, which bought the movie’s rights.

“Over the past two years, Vivendi has failed to provide accounting statements at all,” the suit adds.

Shearer is also accusing the company of ‘improper business expenses’, underreported home sales revenues, and undocumented marketing and promotional expenses ‘allegedly incurred years after the release totaling over $2.5 million’.

So far the company has made no comment, after the suit was filed on Monday in a California federal court.

The movie, directed by Rob Reiner, was released in 1984, and also starred Christopher Guest as guitarist Nigel Tufnel and Michael McKean as David St. Hubbins, core members of ‘Spinal Tap’, a fictional rock group with a habit of losing its drummers.

It was something of a flop on its release, making only $4.7 million, but it went on to become one of the great cult classics of all time, with Spinal Tap also enjoying a career on the music festival circuit.

Since then, the ‘mockumentary’ style has become big business, thanks to ‘This Is Spinal Tap’s pioneering style.

These days, Shearer is best-known for voicing 23 characters on ‘The Simpsons’, including the likes of Mr Burns, Ned Flanders and Principle Skinner.