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METALLICA: ‘Through The Never’ Has Best Opening For Concert Film Ever At IMAX Theaters

Manos Spanos
According to The Wrap, METALLICA's new movie, "Metallica Through The Never", opened this weekend to an estimated $1.67 million — the best opening for a concert film ever at IMAX theaters. The movie, which debuted on 308 3D IMAX screens, earned an estimated $780,000 on its first day. That gave the film a per-location average of $5,482. A blend of concert movie and fictional narrative, it will expand to 650 theaters next weekend. Financed by the METALLICA members themselves at a budget of $18 million, "Metallica Through The Never" is the first new release via Picturehouse, the full-service independent film marketing and distribution company started in 2005, which reopened its doors with founderBob Berney at the helm. The film, written and directed by Nimród Antal ("Kontroll","Predators"), stars members of the iconic rock band and Dane DeHaan ("Chronicle", "The Amazing Spider-Man 2"). DeHaan plays a young band crew member who is sent out on an urgent mission while the band is playing a rousing live set in front of a sold-out crowd and unexpectedly finds his world turned completely upside down. "The hardest thing in Hollywood is trying to sell an idea that has no point of reference,"METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told the Los Angeles Times. "If you can't sit there and go, 'It's like 'The Bourne Identity' meets 'Private Ryan' meets 'Star Trek', they just look at you like, 'What are you talking about?'" Berney told The Wall Street Journal that "Through The Never" doesn't need to draw the uninitiated to theaters for the film to succeed. The band's fans — hardcore or casual — are enough. "Maybe we can wake up the ones who haven't thought about them for a while, like the guy in the cubicle with the METALLICA shirt on under his suit," he said. "We decided we needed to make this unique," METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett told QMI Agency about the "Through The Never" movie. "So we came up with the concept of having a running narrative in the movie that weaves in and out of the concert footage. We liked that idea enough to tell our managers, 'This is the type of movie we want to make.'" "I think that METALLICA fans that are really into action films and movies with a lot of energy are going to be blown away," Ulrich told Revolver magazine. "This is a very unique film. I don’t know what people are going to think of it. I like it. But obviously I’m biased." The soundtrack, which features a number of METALLICA classics performed live in the movie, was released on September 24. The two-disc CD came out on METALLICA's own label,Blackened Recordings, also in digital and vinyl formats. The concert sequences for the movie were shot in August 2012 at two shows in Vancouver, Canada and feature a stage containing elements of many of METALLICA's previous live productions from the past 30 years.
03 min read

METALLICA’s LARS ULRICH: ‘We’re All Psyched To Get Back To The Studio’

Manos Spanos
The members of METALLICA took part in a question-and-answer session following the September 23 screening of their new 3D IMAX movie, "Metallica Through The Never", at New York's Walter Reade Theater. Video footage of the discussion can be seen below. Regarding comparisons to the classic 1976 LED ZEPPELIN film "The Song Remains The Same", METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich said: "I don't mean to be disrespectful, but [we felt strongly that] it shouldn't be 'The Song Remains The Same'. We don't want to be in the non-concert part. We don't see ourselves acting." He added: "[We decided] it shouldn't be in the infomercial style that a lot of the current ones are, where they follow a band on the road, and here they are on and off airplanes. There wasn't a blueprint for this movie, and that's what made it so hard to sell in Hollywood." "[Director] Nimród [Antal] came up with the story line," frontman James Hetfield added. "It really is two movies in one. We wanted to have the best concert footage ever filmed and also have a story line and give it some legs that will be open for interpretation. There are so many metaphors in there. And there's no good side or bad side. There's just turmoil. That's just a part of human nature — fight or flight at times. For me, when the rider shows up he's the embodiment of hate. And then there's fire. Of course. You gotta have fire."
03 min read

METALLICA: We Weren’t Allowed To Play ‘Master Of Puppets’ In China

Manos Spanos
The members of METALLICA have revealed that they were asked to send the lyrics to their entire discography to the Chinese government for approval before they were given permission to play in the country. "We had to give them a whole set of songs and they went through all the lyrics and okayed which ones we could play, which ones we couldn't play," METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett revealed during an appearance on "The Howard Stern Show" on Monday, September 23. "They see a lyric like 'Master Of Puppets' being so subversive that they're not allowing us to play it. It's kind of scary." Added METALLICA frontman James Hetfield: "And that just brings more attention to it, of course. That doesn't work." According to METALLICA, they never considered canceling their Chinese shows after being told which songs they couldn't perform in the country. "There were 40,000 kids over those two nights that were, I mean, they were really responding to what we were doing," said METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich. "It was insane." "Whatever rules they set down, the fans were there to have fun," stated Hetfield. "We got our foot in the door. We were able to go and play in China. That was the key."
02 min read

METALLICA’s JAMES HETFIELD: It’s A ‘Blessing’ To Be Doing What We Love After 30 Years

Manos Spanos
The four members of METALLICA took part in a press conference prior to the band's August 24 performance at Changi Exhibition Centre in Singapore. You can watch video footage of the question-and-answer session below. On how they deal with the physical demands of touring: Kirk Hammett (guitar): "I do a lot of yoga. We're all pretty physical. Rob [bassist Robert Trujillo] and I like ot surf. We just got off a week-long stint in Bali, surfing a lot. You know, it's important to keep maintenance on the road — eat well, sleep well, and just make sure the engine inside is running well. It's really important. 'Cause the last thing I wanna do is drop on stage." Robert Trujillo: "You go through transitions in life, and you have to adjust, and you have to listen to your body and you have to listen to your spirit and really focus on what that means. And you will continue to enjoy life and do things that you couldn't imagine. I mean, to be honest, at least for Kirk and I, we're surfing better than we ever have in our life right now, at our age, which is pretty cool. So if you take that to the stage as well, it's the same principle. You get up there, you play hard and you just know your body and don't push the limits too far so you don't hurt yourself." Lars Ulrich (drums): "We have two guys downstairs who take care of stretching us and putting us back into shape — our necks and our arms and everything. They're among the two hardest-working guys in rock and roll. So we take all that stuff really seriously. I mean, if you could see our [tour] rider, it's carrots and strange vegetables and nasty fruit juices. It's not what it was back in the day, thankfully. But yeah, we do take [staying healthy] very seriously. Absolutely." On how long they can keep METALLICA going: James Hetfield (guitar, vocals): "We'll do this until we don't wanna do it anymore; it's as simple as that. There's no use doing something your heart is not in. But for us, we love what we do and we're blessed that way." On what advice they would give to young, up-and-coming bands:
02 min read

METALLICA: Official Video Recap Of Osaka Concert

Manos Spanos
Official MetOnTour video recap of METALLICA's August 11 appearance at the Summer Sonic festival in Osaka, Japan can be seen below. The 12-minute clip includes drummer Lars Ulrich in the meet-and-greet, "Cyanide" in the tuning room, and "Ride The Lightning" from the show. The band's setlist was as follows: 01. Hit The Lights 02. Master Of Puppets 03. Ride The Lightning 04. Harvester Of Sorrow 05. Fade To Black 06. The Memory Remains 07. Cyanide 08. Welcome Home (Sanitarium) 09. Sad But True 10. ...And Justice For All 11. One 12. For Whom The Bell Tolls 13. Blackened 14. Nothing Else Matters 15. Enter Sandman Encore: 16. Creeping Death 17. Battery 18. Seek & Destroy METALLICA has revealed the details of "Metallica Through The Never (Music From The Motion Picture)", the soundtrack companion to the forthcoming groundbreaking 3D feature film "Metallica Through The Never". The two-disc CD set will be released on the band's own record label Blackened Recordings on September 24 and highlights last year's career spanning sets at Rexall Place in Edmonton and Rogers Arena in Vancouver, where the band filmed all performance footage featured in the film. The soundtrack is available for digital pre-order tonight at midnight EST and both the CD and digital album will be available at all retailers. There will also be a vinyl edition of the soundtrack album available in both 33 1/3RPM and special limited numbered 45RPM versions later in the fall.
02 min read

METALLICA: Official Footage Of San Diego ‘Secret Show’ Posted Online

Manos Spanos
In addition to making its first-ever visit this week to San Diego for the massive geek culture event known as Comic-Con, METALLICA also played a surprise show last Friday night (July 19) at the Spreckels Theatre. The band's setlist was as follows: 01. Creeping Death 02. For Whom The Bell Tolls 03. Fuel 04. Ride The Lightning 05. Welcome Home (Sanitarium) 06. Sad But True 07. One 08. Master Of Puppets 09. Blackened 10. Nothing Else Matters 11. Enter Sandman Encore: 12. Last Caress 13. Seek & Destroy Official MetOnTour footage of the pre-show rehearsal and "Seek & Destroy" from the San Diego concert can be seen below. Writer Ryan J. Downey, who attended the concert, tellsBLABBERMOUTH.NET: "Bradley Cooper, the Oscar-nominated star of'Silver Linings Playbook' and 'The Hangover' movies, spent the entire show rocking out (and playing air guitar) in one of the small theater's balconies. He was visibly excited by even just the intro to 'Blackened', jumping up and down as the familiar notes of the taped intro hit the sound system. Across from him, seated in the balcony in front of stage left, satRob Halford. He was
04 min read

METALLICA’s ULRICH: ‘I Understand There Are People Waiting For A New Record, And So Are We’

Manos Spanos
METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich tells RollingStone.com that the band has amassed nearly 600 song ideas during rehearsals in January and March of this year, many of which came from jam sessions the musicians held while on tour. "I understand there are people waiting for a new record, and so are we,"Ulrich says. "But I can't stress about it. It's not like, 'Fuck, hurry up and get this record out.' Hurry up for what? So we can go play gigs? We already play gigs. We'll get there." Although Ulrich and bassist Robert Trujillo have indicated in recent interviews that at least some writing for the upcoming METALLICA album had taken place, frontman James Hetfield has a different take. Hetfield told Abu Dhabi's That's Entertainment, "We haven't even started writing it. We're going through riffs. We have, like, 800-and-something riffs we're going through — lots of ideas. We're really excited about it, but doing concerts here and there, trying to get back in the studio and get some stuff done, it's all really exciting. But it gets done onMETALLICA time, which is not really scheduled. When it's done, it's done and when it's good, then it will be done."
02 min read

METALLICA’s Surprise ‘Kill ‘Em All’ Performance: Official Footage Of Rehearsal, Show

Manos Spanos
METALLICA surprised fans at Orion Music + More on June 8 by playing its 1983 debut disc "Kill 'Em All" from beginning to end on a smaller stage at the event. METALLICA was officially announced to play a headlining set on June 9 to close out the festival, but hit the stage at 4:30 p.m. one day earlier for a 10-song set that started with "Hit The Lights" and finished out with "Metal Militia". The afternoon slot was officially taken by an "act" called DEHAAN — which METALLICA fans may have recognized as the name of actor Dane DeHaan, who is starring in the band's upcoming 3D movie, "Metallica Through The Never". Another hint was dropped when METALLICAfrontman James Hetfield posted a message on Instagram which read, "Don't miss Dehaan! #MUYA #mff #UwillRegretMissingThem #IfUdoUmightKillEmAll #winkWink #getIt?" Hetfield came onstage first to introduce "DEHAAN," after which the rest of the members of METALLICA came out and began playing. Official Metallica TV footage of the pre-show rehearsal in the "tuning room", as well as the actual DEHAAN performance, can be seen below. Featured songs:
02 min read

METALLICA Performs Entire ‘Kill ‘Em All’ Album During Surprise Afternoon Set At ORION

Manos Spanos
METALLICA played its 1983 debut album, "Kill 'Em All", from beginning to end during a surprise performance earlier this afternoon at the band's Orion Music + More festival at Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan. After word got around that a group called DEHAAN (presumably a nod to actor Dane DeHaan, who stars in METALLICA's upcoming IMAX 3D movie, "Metallica Through The Never") was set to play the event's Vans Damage Inc. stage at 4:30 p.m., the METALLICA members themselves came on and reeled off songs from "Kill 'Em All" one by one, including such classics as "Hit The Lights", "Seek And Destroy" and "No Remorse". Prior to the performance, METALLICA frontman James Hetfield posted a photo on Instagram of the DEHAAN backdrop on the Vans Damage Inc. stage (see below) along with the following message: "Don't miss Dehaan! #MUYA #mff #UwillRegretMissingThem #IfUdoUmightKillEmAll #winkWink #getIt?" The band's setlist was as follows:
03 min read