BLABBERMOUTH.NET
A never-heard-before, totally new and different version of
METALLICA's classic song
"Nothing Else Matters" appears twice in
Disney's new movie
"Jungle Cruise".
METALLICA stated about the track's inclusing in the film: "It was an honor to work with renowned, legendary composter
James Newton Howard as we reimagined the song by performing his arrangement and creating a rendition we like to think is fit for an excursion through the Amazon.
"The film stars
Dwayne Johnson and
Emily Blunt who take the fan favorite ride and transform it to a theatrical adventure. Not only are we big fans of
Disney, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to work with Howard, an eight-time
Oscar nominee who has been recognized for films such as
'The Fugitive',
'Michael Clayton', and
'The Village'.
"Our collaboration with
Howard will be featured on the film's soundtrack, available to stream or download on your favorite music platforms tomorrow."
It was last September that
METALLICA drummer
Lars Ulrich first confirmed the band was working with
James Newton Howard on an orchestral version of
"Nothing Else Matters" for the
"Jungle Cruise" movie.
"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,"
Ulrich told
Collider. "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."
Ulrich went on to say that he was excited to work with
Howard.
"
James Newton Howard, the man, the myth, the absolute legend,"
Ulrich said. "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. 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."
The possibility of
METALLICA contributing to the
"Jungle Cruise" movie was first raised in June 2020 when
Mitchell Leib, the president of music and soundtracks for
The Walt Disney Studios, told
The Entertainment Outlet that he was working with
Ulrich on the film.
Howard created an orchestral version of
"Nothing Else Matters", which features in the film in two key places, for a total of about seven minutes, to set up the film's back story.
Leib said: "I came up with the idea of, let's have some fun, and why don't we take your tracks up to
METALLICA's studio in San Francisco, and why don't we have
Lars do the drum tracks, and James Hetfield do some of the guitars, and have
Rob [
Trujillo]… and so I'm dealing with
METALLICA right now, and as well as helping him [
Lars] become an
Academy member."
Inspired by the famous
Disneyland theme park ride,
Disney's
"Jungle Cruise" is an adventure-filled, rollicking thrill-ride down the Amazon with wisecracking skipper
Frank Wolff and intrepid researcher
Dr. Lily Houghton.
Lily travels from London, England to the Amazon jungle and enlists
Frank's questionable services to guide her downriver on La Quila — his ramshackle-but-charming boat.
Lily is determined to uncover an ancient tree with unparalleled healing abilities — possessing the power to change the future of medicine. Thrust on this epic quest together, the unlikely duo encounters innumerable dangers and supernatural forces, all lurking in the deceptive beauty of the lush rainforest. But as the secrets of the lost tree unfold, the stakes reach even higher for
Lily and
Frank and their fate — and mankind's — hangs in the balance.
Jaume Collet-Serra directs the film, which stars
Dwayne Johnson,
Emily Blunt,
Edgar Ramírez,
Jack Whitehall, with
Jesse Plemons, and
Paul Giamatti. The producers are
John Davis and
John Fox of
Davis Entertainment;
Dwayne Johnson,
Hiram Garcia and
Dany Garcia of
Seven Bucks Productions; and
Beau Flynn of
Flynn Picture Co., with
Scott Sheldon and
Doug Merrifield serving as executive producers. The story is by
John Norville and
Josh Goldstein and
Glenn Ficarra and
John Requa, and the screenplay is by
Michael Green and
Glenn Ficarra and
John Requa.
Disney's
"Jungle Cruise" will be released in U.S. theaters and on
Disney+ with Premier Access on July 30, 2021.