John Lydon has labeled Danny Boyle’s upcoming biopic TV series on his band Sex Pistols “the most disrespectful shit I’ve ever had to endure,” and threatened to take his case to court.
“They went to the point to hire an actor to play me but what’s the actor working on? Certainly not my character,” Lydon declared during an interview with The Sunday Times (as reported by NME.) “It can’t go anywhere else [but court.]”
First announced in January, Pistol will be Boyle’s first project since the 2019 film Yesterday, which imagined a world without the Beatles. The six-part series will be based on Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones’ 2017 autobiography Lonely Boy: Tales From a Sex Pistol.
While Lydon alleges that neither his consent nor participation was requested by the series producers, a spokesperson for the production tells NME that they reached out to the singer’s management company, but “ultimately direct contact was declined.”
“Sorry, you think you can do this, like walk all over me – it isn’t going to happen,” Lydon insists. “Not without a huge, enormous fucking 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.”
The Pistol limited series is schedule to air on FX. No release date has been announced. Toby Wallace is set to star as Jones, with Anson Boone portraying Lydon, Louis Partridge as bassist Sid Vicious and Jacob Slater as drummer Paul Cook.