Metallica is Reworking One of Their Classic Songs for a Disney Movie
Metallica and Disney don’t seem like a logical pairing, but the partnership is happening in the upcoming film Jungle Cruise starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt.
Lars Ulrich told Collider the band is working with composer James Newton Howard on a new, orchestral version of the iconic balled “Nothing Else Matters” for the film.
“James Newton Howard, the man, the myth, the absolute legend! Considering what’s he’s done, it’s an absolute honor to have done this with him, and we’re excited for the world to hear it,” said Ulrich. “It’s kind of an interesting morph, because it’s kind of — and I don’t want to give too much of it away — but it’s a very unusual morph in that it’s kind of his arrangement of ‘Nothing Else Matters’ that we’re playing. We wrote the song, but he took the song and rearranged it to fit something specific in the film — and obviously, I’m not going to give any of that away — but we then kind of took on his version of it. I think that’s all that should be said.”
So, how did Metallica get involved in a Disney film? Ulrich explains, “It really goes back to [Disney production president] Sean Bailey, who is a lifelong rock fan, and is just all-around one of the greatest, most friendly, generous, warm, and embracing people you’ll find in the music business.”
He continued, “I think he’s always been a Metallica fan, and we’ve gotten to know each other well. My wife and I are big Disney fans, so there’s a great friendship there, and he’s always looked for the right match where there was a way that Metallica could contribute to some project of theirs. This was the right fit, with Sean leading the calvary, and with James Newton Howard and his track record, and what he’s done.”
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