But once he'd calmed down, he accepted the musicians were fully responsible for its failure. And he remains optimistic that something good could still come from the experience.

They spent over $30m of their own money on the 2012 production, including $5m on a specially-constructed stage - but the film made just $3.4m in four weeks of general release.

Hetfield tells Metallica club magazine So What!: "How awesome we thought it was, and how 'wow, this is pretty unique' we felt about it, at the end of the day, was its downfall.

"It was not so much a concert film, not so much an action drama - it was somewhere in the middle. it just fell right down the crevasse. It disappeared. And it was sad to see that.

"There was a time when I was just pissed, like, 'What the f***?' That was stupid. I wanted to just point fingers everywhere. The distributor people, 'They didn't say what they were gonna do.' Or just pointing at Hollywood in general. 'They're a bunch of shysters, man. They sold us on something that they knew was bullsh*t.' Blaming the director, the producer, the casting, and blaming the management. 'You all f***ed up, man.'