New York, March 2, 2004 – St. Martin's Press has acquired the rights to METALLICA: THIS MONSTER LIVES, Joe Berlinger’s account of his three-year odyssey with Metallica during the making of his and partner Bruce Sinofsky’s upcoming film, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, about the heavy metal legends. The deal, which involves world rights including audio and first serial, was negotiated by Andrew Blauner at Blauner Books Literary Agency and editor Marc Resnick at St. Martin's Press.

METALLICA: THIS MONSTER LIVES – THE INSIDE STORY OF SOME KIND OF MONSTER is a behind-the-scenes recounting of Berlinger and Sinofsky's upcoming documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, which premiered at Sundance in January. The book and film reveal intimate details of the band’s two-and-a-half year struggle to create their latest album, St. Anger. Berlinger and Sinofsky were given unprecedented access to the heavy metal icons as they underwent group therapy to help them through their struggles with addiction, fatherhood, backlash from fans, and near-total disintegration. In the book, Berlinger details the filmmakers’ experience in bringing the most tumultuous period in Metallica's twenty-year history to the screen. While the documentary itself provides an insider's view of Metallica, the two and a half years of production (and nearly 1600 hours of footage) garnered far more than can be expressed in a two-hour film. The book will also feature over 50 exclusive photos by the film's DP, Bob Richman, with additional photos by Berlinger.

"The band was incredibly cooperative in the making of the film," comments Joe Berlinger. "It's a filmmaker's dream to have them fully support the book as well."

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster will open theatrically in July though IFC Films, followed by a Paramount Home Entertainment release in early 2005. Berlinger's previous award-winning documentaries include Brother’s Keeper, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, and Revelations: Paradise Lost 2 (all made in collaboration with Sinofsky). Through their work on Paradise Lost, the filmmaking duo became intimately acquainted with Metallica when Berlinger and Sinofsky requested to use their songs for the documentary's soundtrack, despite the band's history of never having licensed their music to film projects. After making the request, Berlinger discovered that the band were fans of the filmmakers’ previous work and a friendship ensued.

St. Martins will also publish Berlinger’s memoirs, MURDER, MUSIC & MAYHEM: A FILMMAKER’S MID-CAREER REPORT, about the director’s experiences in making and distributing some of the more notable nonfiction films and television programming of the past decade. The book will also reveal the inside story of his misadventures helming the ill-fated Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows. St. Martin's Press plans on publishing METALLICA: THIS MONSTER LIVES in November and Berlinger's memoir in 2005.