Cult favorite Heavy Trip, the 2018 Finnish film that combined a love of black and death metal with offbeat comedy, is definitely getting a long-awaited sequel. According to Variety, Doppelgänger Releasing, an offshoot of Music Box Films, has secured North American distribution rights for the sequel, aptly titled Heavier Trip, with Charades managing the world sales rights. Heavier Trip is slated for a theatrical and home entertainment release this November.
The hilarious original film – I still remember crying with so much laughter – gained a dedicated following for its humorous yet heartfelt portrayal of Impaled Rektum, an underground metal band seeking to find their unique sound: a mix of "symphonic, post-apocalyptic, reindeer-grinding, Christ-abusing, extreme war pagan, Fennoscandian metal."
The sequel picks up a few years after the events of Heavy Trip, where Impaled Rektum is now behind bars. The band, unprepared for an offer to play at the prestigious Wacken Open Air festival in Germany, declines the opportunity. But when the guitarist’s father falls ill and faces losing the family home and slaughterhouse, the band must rally together for a jailbreak and a chance at redemption. Cue the music: time to get out of jail!
Director-writers Juuso Laatio and Jukka Vidgren expressed their enthusiasm for bringing this new chapter of Impaled Rektum's journey to life: "If there's one thing the world needs, it's feel-good movies about dudes who play symphonic post-apocalyptic reindeer-grinding Christ-abusing extreme war pagan Fennoscandic metal. We're so excited to bring 'Heavier Trip' to audiences in North America and make lots of noise with this sequel's release!"
In a personal triumph for Laatio, the soundtrack for Heavier Trip includes music by Mika Lammassaari (Mors Subita, ex-Eternal Tears Of Sorrow, ex-Wolfheart) and a complete score by the Swedish occult rock band Year of the Goat, fulfilling a long-time dream of the director: "This has been my 10-year plan, to collaborate with them somehow. I had to make the first film so that I had something to give them: 'Would you, would you be in the second film?' I've been a big, big fan of them for a long time, and this is a personal project in many ways for me. It fulfills a lot of my fanboy dreams."
"It's a thrill to see 'Heavier Trip' being distributed in the U.S. Music Box Films and Doppelgänger Releasing's eclectic slate, spanning both demanding arthouse cinema and mainstream comedy, leaves no doubt about their ability to draw audiences to theaters. As a metal fan myself, I couldn't be happier,” said Charades CEO Pierre Mazars.
The sequel, funded by a diverse international consortium including countries like Finland, Germany, and Belgium, promises to be a "bigger movie" in terms of production value. However, Laatio noted that the added budget didn’t stretch much further due to inflation. Filming took place in Finland and at the iconic Wacken Open Air in Germany, with an epic mud bath scene featured prominently.
