Cult Heavy Metal Comedy 'Heavy Trip' Is Getting A Sequel

"Heavy Trip", the 2018 Finnish ensemble comedy about an aspiring metal band, is getting a sequel.

Juuso Laatio, who, along with Jukka Vidgren, co-wrote and directed the original film, has told Metal Hammer magazine that "Heavy Trip 2" is in the works. "We've written a really good script and we were supposed to film it this summer," he said. "We're aiming to film it next year. You never know. The last film took six years, so I hope this one doesn't take so long."

"Heavy Trip" debuted in 2018 at SXSW and was shown in select theaters in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin and more, in conjunction with VOD platforms. Helmed by first-time feature filmmakers, "Heavy Trip" is a satire about the aforementioned metal band's efforts to land its first legitimate gig. In the film, Turo (Johannes Holopainen) is stuck in a small village in the Finnish countryside where his greatest passion is being the lead vocalist for the group IMPALED REKTUM. The only problem is that he and his fellow headbangers have practiced for 12 years without playing a single gig. But that's all about to change when the guys meet the promoter of a huge heavy metal music festival in Norway and decide it's now or never. Hitting the road in a stolen van with a corpse, a coffin, and a new drummer from a local mental hospital in tow, IMPALED REKTUM travels across Scandinavia to make its dreams a reality. This road trip comedy includes a musical brotherhood, grave robbing, Viking heaven, and an armed conflict between Finland and Norway.

According to Juuso, who is a longtime metal fan, "Heavy Trip" initially bombed in Finland, which is widely considered to be the most heavy metal country in the world.

"Nobody went to see it in the Finnish cinemas," Juuso said, "It was marketed very poorly and to the wrong audience; it was marketed to 15-year-olds but it's not a film for them. They don't know the metal references and they don't listen to metal anyway. After the failed opening, it was pretty much, 'Well, there goes our career. Nobody's going to work with us again.'"

"Heavy Trip" currently has a 94% critic score from 32 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the online review aggregation service that allows both critics and the public to rate movies. The same site has an 83% audience score for "Heavy Trip" from more than 250 reviews.

"We have the craziest fans in Japan," Juuso said. "They have cosplay over there and one guy cosplayed as the speed camera! And they had special screenings where the music is turned up extra loud. There's a crazy 'Heavy Trip' scene over there."