MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine says that he has been “secretly hoping there’d be a day” when he could write some new music with his former METALLICA bandmate James Hetfield

Speaking on the matter in a new interview with Vinyl Writer Music, Mustaine said: “I think the world really does want us to do that, and I think there is a pretty good possibility of it happening down the line.”

He continued: “I do think that it’s possible that one day James is going to come around and that he and I are going to be able to do something together again. I guess that’s one of the things that has always kept me pushing forward. I think it’d be good for MEGADETH, and it could be great for METALLICA too.”

Mustaine recently said that he felt bad about a physical altercation he had with Hetfield prior to his firing from METALLICA, which he said was due in part to his selling pot.

“I was selling pot,” Dave said. “When I would go play in concert, people knew that my pot was sitting in my apartment just saying, ‘Go ahead and keep me company.’ So I was broken in on. People stole everything that I had; all my stash. And I figured, screw this. I’m gonna get some dogs to stay in the apartment when I leave. So I got two dogs and I took one of them up to a rehearsal one time and she put her paws up on Ron’s [McGovney, METALLICA‘s then-bassist] car. And James kicked it right in the side. And I was like, ‘What did you do?’ [And I was like] ‘It’s a dog, it’s what they do. You don’t kick animals.’ So we went into the house, and we started arguing some more. And I ended up punching him in the face and I think that was the root of why I lost my job.”

Mustaine and METALLICA have been on better terms for the last decade with Dave performing with his ex-bandmates on several occasions in 2010 and 2011 during the “Big Four” concerts and at METALLICA‘s 30th anniversary concerts in San Diego.