“We’re going to kick this country awake if it kills us,” says Anson Boon’s John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) in the opening seconds of the teaser trailer for Pistol, Danny Boyle’s FX series about Sex Pistols. As history shows, the punk pioneers did exactly that during their initial run in the ’70s.
In the clip, Lydon continues by saying, “The monarchy has stolen our future.” The band’s mission statement follows: “I don’t want musicians — I want saboteurs! Assassins! One word: destroy.” Watch the full teaser below.
The series premieres Tuesday, May 31st, on FX/Hulu and is based on Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones’ 2017 memoir Lonely Boy: Tales From a Sex Pistol. According to the official logline, it guides viewers “through a kaleidoscopic telling of three of the most epic, chaotic and mucus-spattered years in the history of music,” during which the band made up of “spotty, noisy, working-class kids with ‘no future'” shook up the establishment. Sounds about right.
In addition to Boon, Pistol stars Toby Wallace as Jones, with the band rounded out by Louis Partridge as Sid Vicious, Jacob Slater as drummer Paul Cook, and Christian Lees as original bassist Glen Matlock. Other cast members include Sydney Chandler as Chrissie Hynde, Talulah Riley as Vivienne Westwood, Maisie Williams as punk icon Jordan, Emma Appleton as Nancy Spungen, and Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Malcolm McLaren.
Boyle directed and executive produced Pistol, which was created and written by Craig Pearce. Despite the real-life John Lydon’s best efforts, the series contains fully-licensed music from Sex Pistols. To accompany the show’s premiere, the band are releasing a compilation culled from their 1976-1978 heyday. Naturally, Lydon isn’t happy about that, either, calling it “substandard” to prior Sex Pistols releases from Universal.
