Danny Boyle Set To Direct FX Series On Sex Pistols Guitarist Steve Jones with Toby Wallace and Maisie Williams

Director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting) is set to helm a limited series set up at FX, which will be based on the memoir of Steve Jones, the insanely talented guitarist of Sex Pistols who helped usher in a punk revolution.

The series is titled Pistols, it will consist of six episodes, and Boyle will also serve as an executive producer on the project. Pistol and was created by Moulin Rouge! writer Craig Pearce and is co-written by Frank Cottrell Boyce (24 Hour Party People). 

Toby Wallace (Babyteeth) is set to star as Jones, and Game Of Thrones star Maisie Williams has also been cast and will take on the role of punk icon Jordan.

The cast for the series also includes Anson Boon (Crawl) as John Lydon, Louis Partridge (Enola Homes) as Sid Vicious, Jacob Slater as Paul Cook, Fabien Frankel (The Serpent) as Glen Matlock, Dylan Llewellyn (Derry Girls) as Wally Nightingale, Sydney Chandler (Don’t Worry Darling) as Chrissie Hynde, and Emma Appleton (The Witcher) as Nancy Spungen.

Pistol will be based on Jones’ book, Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol, and here’s a description:

Without the Sex Pistols there would be no punk. And without Steve Jones there would be no Sex Pistols. It was Steve who, with his schoolmate Paul Cook, formed the band that eventually went on to become the Sex Pistols and who was its original leader. As the world celebrates the 40th anniversary of punk -- the influence and cultural significance of which is felt in music, fashion, and the visual arts to this day--Steve tells his story for the very first time.

Steve Jones's modern Dickensian tale began in the street of Hammersmith and Shepherd's Bush, West London, where as a lonely, neglected boy living off his wits and petty thievery he was given purpose by the glam art rock of David Bowie and Roxy Music. He became one of the first generation of ragamuffin punks taken under the wings of Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood.

In Lonely Boy, Steve describes the sadness of never having known his real dad, the abuse he suffered at the hands of his stepfather, and how his interest in music and fashion saved him from a potential life of crime spent in remand centers and prisons. He takes readers on his journey from the Kings Road of the early '70s through the years of the Sex Pistols, punk rock, and the recording of "Anarchy in the UK" and Never Mind the Bollocks. He recounts his infamous confrontation on Bill Grundy's Today program -- the interview that ushered in the "Filth and the Fury" headlines that catapulted punk into the national consciousness. And he delves into the details of his self-imposed exile in New York and Los Angeles, where he battled alcohol, heroin, and sex addiction but eventually emerged to gain fresh acclaim as an actor and radio host.

Lonely Boy is the story of an unlikely guitar hero who, with the Sex Pistols, transformed twentieth-century culture and kick-started a social revolution.

Nick Grad, president of original programming at FX Entertainment said in a statement:

“It’s great to be back in business with Danny Boyle. Steve Jones was at the center of the storm that shook the rock establishment and we’re thrilled to have Danny and the rest of the creative team tell his story as a member of one of music’s most notorious bands — the Sex Pistols.”

Boyle added:

“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. The Sex Pistols. At its center was a young charming illiterate kleptomaniac — a hero for the times — Steve Jones, who became in his own words, the 94th greatest guitarist of all time. This is how he got there.”

I can’t wait to see how this series turns out!