Disney+ has offered a glimpse at Danny Boyle’s TV series about the Sex Pistols with the release of a new trailer.
Created by Craig Pearce and written by Pearce and Frank Cottrell Boyce, Pistol is based on guitarist Steve Jones’ memoir, Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol.
The highly anticipated six-part series, which will explore the rise of the punk band and the rock and roll revolution in Britain, will premier on streaming service Disney+ on May 31.
The trailer opens with footage of a slow-paced lifestyle with people riding boats down canals and children running around housing estates, as a voiceover says: “England’s terribly boring, nothing ever changes.”
Thomas Brodie-Sangster plays the band’s manager Malcolm McLaren, and in the video tells the band: “With the right guidance you could change the world.”
He later adds: “My vision for the Sex Pistols is one of dirt, danger and desire. Whether you can play is not the criteria, it’s whether you’ve got something to say.”
As footage plays of rioting and the punk band running around outside Buckingham Palace, an announcer says: “Punk has taken London’s youth by storm.”
The band is later seen performing on stage against the backdrop of a Union flag while fans clash with police.
Game Of Thrones actress Maisie Williams also stars as punk model Jordan, who in the trailer sports a blonde beehive and black PVC dress which attracts attention from passers-by.
Sex Pistol guitarist Jones will be portrayed by Toby Wallace and singer John Lydon will be played by Anson Boon.
Christian Lees, who played Jerry Lee Lewis in the Sun Records series, stars as original Pistols bassist Glen Matlock, Jacob Slater as drummer Paul Cook and Louis Partridge as bassist Sid Vicious, who replaced Matlock after he quit in 1977.
Model Iris Law will play Soo Catwoman, an influential figure in the London punk scene, while Talulah Riley, best known for roles in St Trinian’s and Westworld, will portray punk fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood.
Boyle, whose previous films include Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Slumdog Millionaire, will serve as both director and executive producer.
Pistol, which was commissioned by US network FX, moves from west London’s council estates, to Westwood and McLaren’s notorious Kings Road SEX shop, to the international controversy that came with the release of Never Mind The Bollocks and cemented the band, formed in 1975, as one of the most notorious British outfits of all time.
Last year members of the Sex Pistols were embroiled in a High Court legal battle over the punk band’s songs being used in the television series.
Ex-drummer Cook and guitarist Jones sued the group’s former frontman Johnny Rotten, real name John Lydon, to allow their music to be used in TV drama.
In a ruling, Sir Anthony Mann found the pair were entitled to invoke “majority voting rules” against the ex-singer in relation to the use of Sex Pistols material in the series, under the terms of a band member agreement (BMA).
Pistol will premier on streaming service Disney+ on May 31.
