Set at the birth of the UK punk scene, Pistol will chronicle the formation of the notorious Sex Pistols.
Updated 08/04/22 – Landing at the end of may, the incoming Disney+ show now has a first trailer. It’s our first chance to see the band in action, in a trailer named ‘Destroy’.
“We’re going to kick this country awake if it kills us”
The trailer promises plenty of the show’s musical action, framing their endeavours as a political mission. It also offers a first look at Maisie Williams as Jordan (aka Pamela Rooke). Sadly, the real-life Rooke – often referred to “The Queen of Punk” – passed away last weekend. There’s some good coverage with plenty of tributes at the NME.
Speaking about the show when it was announced, director Danny Boyle said:
“Imagine breaking into the world of The Crown and Downton Abbey with your mates and screaming your songs and your fury at all they represent. This is the moment that British society and culture changed forever.”
“It is the detonation point for British street culture, where ordinary young people had the stage and vented their fury and their fashion and everyone had to watch and listen and everyone feared them or followed them.”
Get ready – all six episodes of Pistol land at Disney+ on the 31st of May 2022.
Original article follows:
Pistol – the Sex Pistols biopic will stream on Disney+ at the end of May
Across last year, we reported a couple of times on the production of Pistol. Created and written by Craig Pearce, the show is based on Steve Jones‘ memoir ‘Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol’.
Now, thanks to FX boss John Landgraf (via Deadline), we’ve learned the show will arrive at Disney+ on the 31st of May, 2022.
Here’s the synopsis for Pistol:
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.
A stellar cast
Pistol promises a bunch of relative newcomers as the band themselves; Toby Wallace plays Steve Jones, Jacob Slater is Paul Cook, Anson Boon is John Lydon and Christian Lees plays Glen Matlock. Joining them, Louis Partridge (Enola Holmes, Medici) plays Sid Vicious
Around them, however, are a cast of bigger names to play some of the cultural icons of the time. They include Sydney Chandler as Chrissie Hynde, Talulah Riley as Vivienne Westwood, Maisie Williams as punk icon Jordan, Emma Appleton (The Witcher) as Nancy Spungen and Thomas Brodie-Sangster (The Queen’s Gambit) as Malcolm McLaren.
The six-part series comes from director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Yesterday). He executive produces alongside Steve Jones, writer Craig Pearce and several others.
One person unlikely to be pleased about the news however is John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten), who lost a court case last year over the use of the group’s songs in the show.
As we said, Pistol arrives on Tuesday, May the 31st. We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for a trailer.