How Metallica Got Involved In A Disney Movie

The upcoming Disney movie Jungle Cruise starring The Rock and Emily Blunt features a new, orchestral version of Metallica's famous "Nothing Else Matters." But how did one of heavy rock's most famous get associated with the family friendly movie studio in the first place?

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich told Collider that Disney executive Sean Bailey helped make it happen. A lifelong fan of rock music and generally a good dude according to the rocker, Bailey was the one who helped push it through and get Metallica synced up with Jungle Cruise composer James Newton Howard.

"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," Ulrich said. "This was the right fit, with Sean leading the calvary, and with James Newton Howard and his track record, and what he's done."

Howard is an accomplished and veteran composer, having earned eight Oscar nominations for his work on films like The Fugitive, The Village, and Michael Clayton. He also composed music for King Kong, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, the Hunger Games movies, and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Ulrich teased that the new version of "Nothing Else Matters" will be a "very unusual morph" of the song. "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," Ulrich said of working with Howard.

Jungle Cruise is scheduled for release in theatres in July 2021, following a one-year delay related to COVID-19. The movie is inspired in part by the Disney theme park attraction of the same name.

The Rock and his family were recently diagnosed with COVID-19.