James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich Discuss Metallica’s 3D Movie Project

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, several members of Metallica discussed the band's extra-busy 2012 schedule.

This month, Metallica are hosting their own festival, the Orion Music + More weekend, which takes place June 23 and 24 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. After that, they'll tour Mexico, where they'll unveil a new 140-by-50-foot stage featuring visual elements spanning their 30-year career.

And then, of course, there's the band's upcoming 3D movie, the plot of which is still unclear.

"Our intention is to make something that is completely insane and blows minds," James Hetfield told Rolling Stone. "I also want a story line. I want this to be a cult-type film. It's kind of silly, talking so in-depth about it when I don't know what it even is yet."

“This has been circling for two years. It’s time to life-size it, get it out of our minds and on the screen," added Lars Ulrich. "And if it’s done right, it can be sensational. You’re not watching Metallica onstage. You’re onstage with Metallica. In IMAX, James Hetfield is 38 feet tall, snotting on you, spitting on you. It’s 2,000 decibels. If there is an earthquake outside, you wouldn’t notice.

“But you can’t do that for 100 minutes. It loses its appeal. There is another element in there – intimate, small, a story that takes place over the same trajectory as the concert. The question is, ‘Where do they weave in and out of each other?’ But you have to cut away from the concert to enjoy the concert.”

Metallica are working with director Nimrod Antal on the movie and will be filming their August 24 concert in Vancouver, Canada, as part of the project.

For the rest of this interview, check out RollingStone.com.