Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's Son Is Making a Film About That Time He Burned Millions of Dollars in Punk Merch

BY Josiah HughesPublished May 24, 2019

Three years ago, Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's son Joe Corré set £5 million (or $9 million CAD) worth of punk memorabilia on fire. Now, he's making a documentary about why he did it.

The film is called Wake Up Punk, and it will be directed by Nigel Askew. According to Variety, the premise of the film will be as follows:

The film takes in the process behind destroying the memorabilia and the condemnation Corré received for setting irreplaceable objects from music history alight. It also takes in his view that activism is the new punk, and that punk has been appropriated by the establishment and "become a marketing exercise to sell you something you don't need."

Askew's Wake Up Punk is not the only Sex Pistols movie in the works. A biopic called Only Anarchists Are Pretty is currently in the works, though it's not endorsed by the band. Speaking with Variety, Corré also disapproves of the biopic.

"No one has spoken to me, Malcolm's only child, nor have they spoken to Vivienne Westwood, nor have they spoken to Malcolm's elder brother, Stuart Edwards," he said. "Whatever they're making will be based on fantasy and fabrication."  

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