The undisputed kings of heavy metal, Metallica, made their very first appearance at San Diego Comic-Con today. All four members of the icon band – James Hetfield (vocals, guitar), Lars Ulrich (drums), Kirk Hammett (lead guitar), and Robert Trujillo (bass) – came to the convention center’s Hall H to promote their upcoming 3D film, Metallica Through The Never. Director/writer Nimród Antal (Predators) and producer Charlotte Huggins (Journey to the Center of the Earth) also appear on the panel, which revealed the world premiere of the film’s theatrical trailer and poster, as well as exclusive preview footage.

Check out the theatrical trailer and poster here below.

The movie stars the band in concert performance sequences, along with actor Dane DeHaan (from The Amazing Spider-Man 2) as Trip, a roadie who is sent on an urgent mission to pick up a bag during one of the band’s sold-out shows. Tripp’s mission gets diverted after his van crashes; when he emerges from the wreck, the city seems to have gone mad, with rioting and a masked horseman riding through the streets hacking at and lassoing the citizens. But Tripp still has his job to do and the audience is left to wonder, what’s in the bag?

The movie is a narrative film, but it takes place while the Metallica concert is occurring. The performance scenes were shot especially for the movie. DeHaan actually doesn’t have any dialogue in the movie.

DeHaan said that growing up his parents didn’t allow him to listen to Metallica, but when he was doing A Place Beyond The Pines because he felt his character would listen to that kind of band.

An IMAX exclusive trailer debut at the panel, which will be shown before Elysium and Riddick in IMAX theaters. It starts with the band playing “Wherever I May Roam” and we see Tripp trapped in the middle of rioting citizens and riot police. Most of the footage is set against the song “Cynanide” and we see a lot of the band’s stage set, with coffins, Lady Justice crumbling, electric chairs, and more. We also see Tripp watching as the horseman kills people and in the end, he throws something at the executioner, getting his attention. Will Tripp be come the horseman’s next victim?

The footage was very reminiscent of classic music film’s like Pink Floyd’s The Wall, especially that film’s ‘Young Lust” sequence. The band was actually asked if they think their film has something new to add to the genre, where The Who’s Tommy and the aforementioned The Wall are some of the most popular. They didn’t really give a straight answer, instead saying they’d be honored for their film to be considered in the same breath as those others.

Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett said that “the stage is the star of the film.” The movie was written around the stage set up. Ulrich and Hetfield hinted that if the fans wanted it, the band might tour this stage set.

Most of the audience Q&A was questions about the band’s future plans (Hammett joked about a Metallica exercise video “Sweating To The Oldies With Kirk Hammett”) and their plans for more albums and tours, of which the band says there will be many. But for now, the group is focused on promoting their new movie.

Picturehouse will release Metallica Through the Never in North America on September 27, 2013 exclusively in over 300 IMAX® 3D Theatres, and will expand into additional theaters on October 4, 2013.  

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Poster

[Poster via Yahoo!]

Trailer

Video

Panel Photos

[All panel photos by Dave3 for Geeks of Doom.]