FX’s ‘Pistol,’ Danny Boyle’s Limited Series Based on Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones’ Memoir, to Premiere in May

Back in January 2021, it was announced that director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire) was working on a new FX limited series based on Lonely Boy, the 2017 memoir from Sex Pistols guitarist (and current radio host) Steve Jones.

The latest update on the project is a substantial one, as Pistol will have its premiere exclusively on FX on May 31 in the U.S., and on Disney+ in UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

The news comes from Deadline, which also shared the official synopsis for the limited series:

“The furious, raging storm at the center of this revolution are the Sex Pistols – and at the center 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. Based on Jones’ memoir Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol, 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.”

As for the cast:

Pistol stars Toby Wallace as Steve Jones, Anson Boon as John Lydon, Christian Lees as Glen Matlock, Louis Partridge as Sid Vicious, Jacob Slater as Paul Cook, Sydney Chandler as Chrissie Hynde, Talulah Riley as Vivienne Westwood, Maisie Williams as punk icon Jordan, Emma Appleton as Nancy Spungen and Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Malcolm McLaren.

Never mind the bollocks, here's the premiere date. FX's Pistol, a new limited series from Executive Producer and Academy Award®-winner Danny Boyle and based on a memoir from Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, premieres May 31 only on @Hulu. pic.twitter.com/UahmXtWJP3

— FX Networks (@FXNetworks) March 29, 2022

Boyle told reporters that while he attempted to secure the participation of John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) for the project, he “couldn’t get past the manager”:

“I hope he does watch this and realize, especially in Anson (who plays Lydon), how much we love his work, the Oscar Wilde in him.”

Back in 2017, Jones spoke with Rock Cellar’s Ken Sharp about his memoir Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol, Jones discussed his resistance to hold anything back in telling his tale as he’d want it told:

Nothing was too painful to talk about. I’d already unraveled most of the stuff that was in the book prior to doing the book. It wasn’t like any big revelations came as I was putting the book together.

The only thing that made me a little uncomfortable was knowing the world is gonna know that I got fucked around with by my stepfather. But I thought, fuck it, it wasn’t my fault and I want it in the book. It’s a part of my upbringing and it steered me in a direction.

I think it was important to have all that in there.

Stay tuned for more about Pistol!