METALLICA Featured In Tomorrow’s Episode Of SHOWTIME’s ‘Billions’

METALLICA is featured in the February 7 episode of Showtime’s new financial drama “Billions”. The band appears in one backstage scene and is seen performing in the show, which was shot on location in Quebec at one of the band’s tour dates last September.

According to Billboard.com, Brian Koppelman and David Levien, who created the series with Andrew Ross Sorkin, are life-long METALLICA fans and the two, who also serve as the show’s executive producers, wrote the episode with METALLICA in mind.

In the show, successful hedge fund billionaire Bobby “Axe” Axelrod (played by Damian Lewis) takes his buddies on his private jet to see METALLICA in concert in Quebec.

“We had heard stories about hedge funders taking their old friends on private planes to see their favorite band and it felt like METALLICA just represented something great for guys of this age because it’s a band that appeals to blue-collar listeners, but the band also appeals to the smartest, most highly educated people,” Koppelman told Billboard.com. “It’s a great cross section and they’re authentic, so it makes sense ‘Axe’ would love them.”

Asked if they already knew the band, Koppelman said: “When I was 22, I went to work at Elektra and Michael Alago, who had signed METALLICA, had just left. I got assigned to be their A&R guy, which was a huge thrill. I just pinch hit for a year. I got to be backstage with them and at soundcheck. I’ve been friends with [METALLICA’s managers] Cliff [Burnstein] and Peter [Mensch] since 1989.”

When it was METALLICA’s turn to film their scene, “The band couldn’t have been more generous with their time,” Levien said. “They have a warm-up room where they practice and lock in together as a band before they play. They allowed us to have [Axe] have access to that so it seems like he’s in the inner circle and, by extension, our crew was in there. That scene was shot maybe 40 minutes before they went on stage.”

Koppelman and Levien previously wrote “Ocean’s Thirteen”, “Rounders” and the ESPN poker drama “Tilt”.

Source: Blabbermouth