Why Lionsgate suddenly deleted Francis Ford Coppola's 'Megalopolis' trailer
Lionsgate has pulled the latest trailer for Francis Ford Coppola's film Megalopolis, which contained fabricated quotes attributed to renowned film critics. The company has issued an apology for this oversight, stating that it was an "inexcusable error" in their vetting process. The trailer, released on March 9, sought to portray Coppola's new film as a timeless masterpiece akin to his previous works The Godfather and Apocalypse Now.
Apology from Lionsgate
A Lionsgate spokesperson told Variety, "Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for Megalopolis." The statement continued, "We offer our sincere apologies to the critics involved and to Francis for this inexcusable error in our vetting process. We screwed up." The trailer included several quotes from critics criticizing Coppola's previous films. However, these quotes—attributed to critics such as Roger Ebert and Pauline Kael—could not be found in any of their reviews. The source of most of these fabricated quotes remains unclear.
Misattributed quote from critic Owen Gleiberman
Variety's Owen Gleiberman was incorrectly quoted in the trailer as describing the 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula as "a beautiful mess" and emphasizing its "absurdity." However, Gleiberman reviewed the film for Entertainment Weekly at the time of its release and did not use these words. He expressed his disappointment with the misattribution, stating, "Even if you're one of those people who don't like critics, we hardly deserve to have words put in our mouths."
'Megalopolis' trailer controversy adds to film's existing issues
This trailer controversy is the latest in a series of issues plaguing the $120M production of Megalopolis, which the director of the film Coppola entirely financed. Last month, Variety obtained exclusive footage showing Coppola attempting to kiss young female extras on set, while additional crew members reported his unprofessional behavior during filming. Despite these setbacks, Megalopolis is set to hit US theaters on September 27.
