Sex Pistols frontman and Punk icon, John Lydon, has responded to Danny Boyle’s up and coming Sex Pistols biopic series. Lydon has called the director’s work ‘disrespectful’ and claims that they were made without his consent, due to these allegations, Lydon is planning on taking legal action against Boyle.
Within a recent interview with The Sunday Times, Lydon gave his response to some recent publicity photos which were taken to promote Boyle’s new project. The ‘God Save The Queen’ Singer commented on the new series, stating that he was not part of any decisions within the series.
“Sorry, you think you can do this, like walk all over me — it isn’t going to happen. Not without a huge, enormous f***ing fight. I’m Johnny, you know, and when you interfere with my business you’re going to get the bitter end of my business as a result. It’s a disgrace. I fronted this band. I’m the man that wrote the words. I supplied the image and direction, and I think the questions hang on their actions here. If they needed to be this secret squirrel about it then they must have something to hide.”
Lydon continued with his comments.
“I think that’s the most disrespectful s*** I’ve ever had to endure. I mean they went to the point to hire an actor to play me but what’s that actor working on? Certainly not my character. It can’t go anywhere else [but court], And I’ve met [Boyle] before. It’s not like we’re complete strangers.”
However, comments from a spokesman from the series have stated that there was intent to contact Lydon before production started. And that Boyle had tried to contact Lydon’s management company, but the contact was refused. The two had met prior, for the 2012 Olympics ceremony. The Welsh director famed for his cult classic ‘Trainspotting’, was an artistic director for the event. The pair met when Boyle worked with Lydon on a music project for the ceremony.
The new series entitled ‘Pistol’, will chart the rise of punk’s genre-defining band, Sex Pistols are often regarded as the start of the Punk movement within 1970’s London. The members consisted of Johnny Rotten aka John Lydon, Steve Jones, Glen Matlock, Paul Cook and the group’s infamous bassist Sid Vicious. The band became synonymous with rebellious ideologies and anti-authoritarianism culture with the release of their 1997 single, ‘God Save The Queen’. The series is based on the book ‘Lonely Boy’, the 2016 autobiography by the Sex Pistol’s guitarist, Steve Jones and will air on the channel FX, the American streaming service, acquired by Disney in 2019.
The film series has recruited actor Anson Boom to play the character of Lydon, staring alongside Boom as the band’s guitarist Steve Jones is actor Toby Wallace. The new series also sees Game of Thrones star, Maisie Williams, staring as Jordan Mooney, a shop assistant at Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s boutique who would later go on to embody the punk aesthetic and attitude and became a model and punk icon herself.
