Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock opened up about the origins of the documentary I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol, discussing the project’s decades-long journey from page to screen in an interview with Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk.
When asked about his involvement as a producer and how the project came together, Matlock traced the documentary’s roots back to a book he wrote over 30 years ago.
“It’s actually based on a book I wrote about a long time ago. I think it was 1990,” Matlock said. “I must admit, at the time, I did have a bit of a chip on my shoulder and thought I’d been asked over a musical history a little bit, and I found it very cathartic to write it. But when I finished writing it, I kind of thought, oh, this might make a documentary one day.”
Matlock went on to describe the slow and winding path the project took before finally coming to life.
“I wasn’t in any mad rush to do it, but over the course of years, you speak to people and they kind of run with it and then they don’t,” he continued. “A couple of years back, I met a guy called Nick Maed, who’s one of the co-producers and directors, and he introduced me to Andre Rose. And they wanted to make it.”
He also reflected on the film’s reception and the scheduling challenges that came with its release.
“It actually had a screening in England just before Christmas, been on TV there. The powers that be decided it’s coming out imminently in America,” Matlock said. “We did actually have a premiere in New York, and I’ve been over doing a fun book, sort of tribute, a couple of gigs that Jesse Malin organized. And it would have been good if I could have gone on to be at my premiere of my movie, but it didn’t work that way and I had to come back because we started gigging in Europe with the Pistols already and I had to come back for rehearsals.”
“So we’re here. It’s coming out there soon. I’m pleased with it. I’m glad you picked up on it. I’ve had nothing but good reports,” he added. “Maybe the people who don’t like it don’t say nothing. But how do you know, you know?”
The documentary is set for an imminent release in the United States following its earlier debut in the UK.
Now that the film is officially arriving stateside, audiences will have a fuller picture of just how central Matlock was to the band’s story — and why he felt compelled to tell it on his own terms.
The VMI Worldwide official clip confirmed that the documentary is based on the book written by Glen Matlock. It follows his journey as a founding member of the influential punk band the Sex Pistols. The film also highlights a fact that is often overlooked in the band’s mythology: Matlock co-wrote 10 of the 12 songs on the band’s only studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks — a contribution that makes his perspective on the group’s history all the more significant.
The documentary’s U.S. digital release has now been confirmed with a specific date. VMI Worldwide announced that I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol is set to arrive on Prime Video and Apple TV on May 26, 2026. Pre-orders opened on May 12, 2026, giving fans an early window to secure the film ahead of its official drop.
Beyond Matlock’s personal story, the film also places his experience within the broader, turbulent arc of the Sex Pistols’ rise. As noted in the JustWatch listing, the documentary covers the band’s chaotic rise from London’s grim 1970s streets to global notoriety. It shares untold stories of punk’s birth and the internal tensions that defined the group. Matlock’s departure from the band has long been one of the most debated chapters in punk history, and the film appears to address that narrative head-on.
For Matlock, the documentary represents more than just a retrospective — it is a long-overdue chance to set the record straight. Having spent decades watching the Sex Pistols’ story be told largely without his voice at the center, the film gives him the platform to reclaim his place in one of rock’s most iconic and chaotic origin stories.
