Metallica Name Director for 3D Film Due Out in 2013

More details have surfaced about Metallica‘s upcoming 3D feature film. It will land in multiplexes in 2013 and the Four Horseman have tapped Nimród Antal to direct. It has also been confirmed that the film will marry a narrative with concert footage.

The scope of the plot is not abundantly clear, but don’t expect this film to pick up where ‘Some Kind of Monster’ left off. Additionally, top billing will go to five stars: James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo, along with the most important cast members of all: the fans.

The film is scheduled to begin shooting this August, with summer 2013 as the projected release period. Metallica have already conquered the medium of music, so now they are fully immersing themselves in the cinematic medium — beyond a fly-on-the-wall rock doc.

The band also shed light on why Antal was chosen. Essentially, it was his enthusiasm and his previous work that attracted ‘Tallica.

“I’ve been a fan of Nimród’s since his first Hungarian film, ‘Kontroll,’ showed up at Cannes in 2004 and blew everybody away,” said Ulrich in a statement. “I’ve watched with excitement his career in Hollywood blossom over the last few years. Within five minutes of meeting him I was addicted to his enthusiasm, his take on the creative process and his ‘thinking outside of the box’ personality. Let’s get on with it!!!”

Antal was equally complimentary about his new, uh, cast members. “Metallica has always been a huge part of my life, and it’s an incredible opportunity when we get to work with our heroes,” the director said. “We are going to harness the powerful and almighty energy of Metallica’s live shows, inject a narrative into it, and shoot it in 3D to elevate the entire experience.”

Metallica also issued a post on their official website, providing a bit more insight into the film, saying, “We’re just getting started here… look for many more details in the coming months.”

They spoke about Antal, writing:

At the beginning of the year we told you about our latest adventure into 3D film… an all new, totally crazy world for us!! And, as we mentioned then, so many of the details were still being ironed out. With that said, we’re super excited to announce that we will be teaming up with award winning director Nimrod Antal and producer Charlotte Huggins.

Nimrod’s Hungarian language film ‘Kontroll’ (which he wrote and directed) won several awards including the Award of Youth at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. His other films include ‘Vacancy’ with Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson, ‘Armored’ with Matt Dillon and Laurence Fishburne, and ‘Predators’ featuring Adrien Brody.

They also spoke about Huggins, explaining:

Charlotte has been a leader and cutting edge figure in the 3D world for years, producing both the animated ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ and ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth,’ both released in 2008 and this year’s ‘Journey 2: The Mysterious Island,’ which is currently a world-wide box office smash hit.

Judging from all these key details, we should be in for a real treat, as Metallica might be redefining the notion of concert film.