• facebook
  • twitter
  • rss

METALLICA's Four-Million-Dollar 'Monster' Hits The Road

February 3, 2004

METALLICA's much-anticipated documentary, "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster" — an unusual look at the heavy metal band undergoing group therapy to help its members through addiction, fatherhood and "near-total disintegration" while recording their first original studio album in six years — cost a whopping $4 million to produce, according to a recent article in the New York Times.

Elektra Records, who were initially backing the film financially, pulled out of the project after filming stretched into two years as METALLICA frontman James Hetfield left the band for rehab, the album was on hold and the filmmakers kept shooting. "The budget kept escalating," Joe Berlinger, one of the filmmakers, told the paper. "What was going to be a one-hour special of them in therapy continued for two years."

The band bought out Elektra's ownership for $2 million and let the filmmakers complete the film. The band had ultimate control over the finished work but changed almost nothing, the filmakers said. "We've really grown to love them," Berlinger's partner Bruce Sinofsky said.

Following its triumphant premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah two weeks ago, "Some Kind of Monster" will be shown at the following festivals:

European Film Market - Berlin, Germany

Friday, February 6 - Cinestar 1, 17:30
Sunday, February 8 - Cinestar 7, 09:30
Wednesday, February 11 - Cinestar 6, 12:00

Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Saturday, February 7 - Metro, 11:00pm

True/False Film Festival
Saturday, February 14 - Missouri Theater, 4:00pm

South By Southwest Film Festival
Times TBA

San Francisco International Film Festival
Times TBA

Athens International Film Festival
Times TBA

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).