Metallica [ tickets ] has unveiled the initial dates of an ambitious North American arena tour that kicks off in early March and features Godsmack [ tickets ] in the opening slot.

The run is slated to start in Phoenix on March 2, and dates so far are scheduled through the end of that month. Tickets for all but one of the confirmed dates hit the box office on Dec. 20; a Dec. 21 on-sale is set for tickets to the band's March 8 performance in San Francisco. Details are shown in the itinerary below.

Members of Metallica's fan club will have an early shot at tickets via an online pre-sale. More information is posted at the group's website.

Various reports claim that Metallica will play in excess of 70 North American shows next year.

Metallica--which headed up a multi-act tour this summer that featured Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Deftones and Mudvayne--is in the midst of a world tour that backs this year's "St. Anger." Released in June, the album is the group's first new studio set since 1997's "Reload."

The album's title track was recently nominated for a GRAMMY^® award in the Best Metal Performance category.

Squaring off against Metallica in that same category is Godsmack, for the single "Straight Out of Line. The cut is featured on the group's latest full-length, "Faceless," which surfaced in April.

While its 2004 tour is in progress, Metallica plans to release a documentary titled "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster." The film is due to premiere next month at the Sundance Film Festival, and is scheduled for wide release in May.

The group is also readying a 272-page, over-sized, hardcover book that will include more than 1,000 photographs, as well as band members' hand-written entries, drawings and more. The tome, tentatively titled "So What! The Metallibook by Metallica," is expected in stores next August, according to a press release.