Metallica Not Keen on the Idea of a Biopic, Says Lars Ulrich

2020-09-15

Metallica’s Lars Ulrich – Photo by Ken Settle, story by Scarlett Hunter

Lars Ulrich says the guys of Metallica aren’t keen on the idea of doing a biopic, although so many of their musical colleagues are doing such films

Rock biopics are all the rage, from Queen’s popular “Bohemian Rhapsody” to Motley Crue’s “The Dirt.” But, what about a Metallica biopic? Drummer Lars Ulrich says it’s going to take a lot of convincing to get him on board.

“The biopic thing, I think that’s more of a cautionary tale,” Ulrich says in an interview with Collider. “I’m not sold on the idea.”

Ulrich says making a biopic would be much like writing an autobiography, in that it would have to be “completely truthful” and free from outside influence. He says that’s difficult to do, when a movie staff is involved.

“To be 100 percent truthful, it’s hard to tell the stories without bringing other people into it, and then you sort of get into that whole thing where maybe the protagonist in that particular story wouldn’t want the story told,” Ulrich said. “So to me, it’s kind of a dilemma of, these stories deserve the truth if you’re going to talk about them, but at the same time, you can’t take for granted that everybody who’s involved in those stories wants those stories out there.”

Metallica have released films before, of course. The band released a feature-length documentary in 2004 called “Some Kind of Monster” and a live concert film in 2013 named “Metallica: Through the Never.” But, that’s different from a dramatization, in the form of a biopic.

“I would love to throw myself out into what Metallica would look like in the medium of film,” Ulrich said. “But if it’s going to be more of autobiography, I think that’s going to be way more challenging because there’s so many biopics where you kind of sit and roll your eyes.”

He continued, “I guess somewhere I’m just kind of a stickler for the truth, for some reason, so if you’re not gonna tell the truth, then maybe you shouldn’t say anything at all. That’s where it gets a little complicated for me, but let’s see how it plays out.”

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Scarlett Hunter

Meet the expert - Scarlett Hunter has written about alternative music for a variety of publications over the past 10 years. She covers alternative and rock for Audio Ink Radio. Hunter is a graduate of Ohio State University. Contact her at scarlett@audioinkradio.com.

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