Johnny Rotten Condemned Sex Pistols TV Series Gets Aus Premiere Date

Controversial Sex Pistols series Pistol will premiere via Disney+ on May 31.

The long-awaited offering, based on guitarist Steve Jones’ 2017 memoir Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol, has found itself at odds with frontman John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) since its inception.

Early last year, it was confirmed Pistol would proceed with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting, 127 Hours) serving as director and executive produce for its six episodes, and Lydon was quick to unleash.

“I think that’s the most disrespectful shit I’ve ever had to endure," Lydon said.

"I mean, they went to the point to hire an actor to play me but what’s the actor working on? Certainly not my character. It can’t go anywhere else [but court]."

Then, last August, it was revealed that Lydon had lost the right to block usage of the bands' songs in the miniseries, after being sued by Jones and fellow Sex Pistols bandmate Paul Cook.

As per its official Synopsis, Pistol is about a rock and roll revolution:

The furious, raging storm at the centre of this revolution are the Sex Pistols - and at the centre of this series is Sex Pistols’ founding member and guitarist, Steve Jones. Jones’ hilarious, emotional and at times heart-breaking journey guides us through a kaleidoscopic telling of three of the most epic, chaotic and mucus-spattered years in the history of music.

This is the story of a band of spotty, noisy, working-class kids with “no future,” who shook the boring, corrupt Establishment to its core, threatened to bring down the government and changed music and culture forever.

Its cast includes Australian actor Toby Wallace (Jones) who played young Michael Hutchence in the 2014 INXS miniseries and appeared in Stan's Romper Stomper and 2019 film Babyteeth, as well as Anson Boon (John “Johnny Rotten” Lydon), Louis Partridge (Sid Vicious), Jacob Slater (Paul Cook) and Fabien Frankel (Glen Matlock). Game Of Thrones star Maisie Williams will play UK punk icon Jordan.

All six episodes will drop at once.