The Great Rock 'n Roll Swindle/Fun Facts

• Julien Temple replaced original director Russ Meyer and original writer Roger Ebert as a result of creative differences.

• Marianne Faithfull was to play Sid's mother, but backed out at the idea of a sex scene.

• Johnny Rotten had left the group shortly before filming started on the movie. He had had his fill of the band and Malcolm McLaren, and wanted no part in the film. Therefore, he only appears in archival clips of the Sex Pistols on stage. By the time the film had premiered, Rotten was already touring under his birth name John Lydon with his new band Public Image, Ltd.

• Although the film is officially listed as cut by the BBFC the only edit made to the movie was the unusual addition of newspaper headline footage referring to the deaths of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. All versions of the film feature this same print.

• 'Sting' appeared in a brief scene as the leader of a gay band The Blow Waves who attempt to kidnap Paul Cook but the footage was cut from the film. It later reappeared in the documentary The Filth and the Fury (2000).