Johnny Rotten Plots World Domination in New ‘Pistol’ Trailer
A pre-fame Johnny Rotten lays bare his plans for world domination in the trailer for the upcoming Sex Pistols series, Pistol.
"We're going to kick this country awake if it kills us," snarls Rotten (born John Lydon), portrayed by Anson Boon. Grainy footage of Queen Elizabeth II and street protests rolls as the punk rocker seethes, claiming "the monarchy has stolen our future" and raving about "the fury of the forgotten generation."
"I don't want musicians," Rotten continues. "I want saboteurs! Assassins! One word: destroy!"
You can watch the trailer below.
Directed and executive produced by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, Yesterday), Pistol will premiere on May 31 on Hulu in the U.S. The six-episode series is based on Pistols guitarist Steve Jones' 2017 memoir Lonely Boy: Tales From a Sex Pistol and chronicles the group's brief, meteoric rise from scrappy local band to world-renowned punk icons.
In addition to Boon as Rotten, Pistol will also star Toby Wallace as Jones, Jacob Slater as drummer Paul Cook, Christian Lees as original bassist Glen Matlock and Louis Partridge as his replacement, Sid Vicious. Sydney Chandler will play Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde, and Emma Appleton portrays Vicious' girlfriend Nancy Spungen.
A new 20-track Sex Pistols compilation titled The Original Recordings will arrive the week before Pistol premieres, much to Lydon's displeasure. "For the avoidance of any doubt, John Lydon has not approved this compilation and does not endorse or support it,” the singer wrote on Facebook. "He has not approved the artwork or track listing. He and his team were not involved in producing this compilation and consider it substandard compared to previous Universal releases since 2012."