10 Times Metallica Did Whatever The Hell They Wanted

Concert movies are nothing new, bands have been doing them for decades, but Metallica are never a band to do things by halves. When they decided to approach the concept in 2013, in IMAX no less, it was sure that they would do it in a way which was unlike any concert movie before them.

‘Starring’ Dane DeHaan, the movie is a game of two halves. Whilst Metallica play a concert as you would expect in any movie of this style, DeHaan plays roadie Trip, who is tasked with getting fuel to a stranded truck with very important cargo for the band.

Whilst the show is beset by a few narratively determined setbacks, Trip finds himself embroiled in a surreal journey featuring sentient dolls, a full blown riot and a warhammer wielding hunter in a gas mask. Despite these bizarre setbacks, Trip manages to return to the concert after its finale with his cargo in tow; a bag belonging to the late Cliff Burton.

Praised for its creative scope and ambition, like many of Metallica’s off the wall ideas in years past, the movie was a commercial failure. The cost of putting on a show of such a scale without selling tickets and filming the whole thing in IMAX came to an eye watering $32 million. With only $7.9 million taken at the box office, this foray onto the silver screen will likely be one Metallica doesn’t repeat in the years to come.