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also Metallica related;
SFgate.com reports: The revealing documentary "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster,'' a hit at the San Francisco International Film Festival, almost got scrapped in favor of a TV reality show about the band members. The decision over how to tell their story came down to the exorbitant cost of the rights to Metallica's music.
"We waged an epic battle with their record company, Elektra,'' "Monster'' director Joe Berlinger said during an illuminating panel discussion Monday night on the partnership between music and independent film. Originally, Elektra had been happy to give Berlinger and co-director Bruce Sinofsky the rights for free as a way of promoting Metallica's new album. But that attitude changed "when the band started falling apart, and we started filming their therapy sessions, and when James (Hetfield) came back from rehab,'' said Berlinger. Suddenly Elektra execs could see larger financial rewards in turning the footage into an Ozzy Osbourne-type reality show.
"Fortunately, Metallica stood up for us and told them to take a hike. They said, 'We're Metallica and we don't need a cheesy reality show,' '' Berlinger said. Band members paid Elektra $2 million for the music rights and forked over an equal amount to the filmmakers to allow them to finish their documentary.
so who would have played Jessica Simpson's role?
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