Lionsgate has withdrawn its trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s self-funded epic Megalopolis after it was criticised for including false and misleading quotes, saying: “We screwed up.”
The video, released on Wednesday, starts by going back in time to show negative quotes from established critics for acclaimed films from Coppola’s past such as The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. “Genius is often misunderstood,” says the accompanying narration.
Vulture’s Bilge Ebiri pointed out that many of the quotes were manufactured and could not be found in the original reviews. He noted that the New Yorker’s Pauline Kael’s alleged Godfather quote – “diminished by its artsiness” – is nowhere to be found in her glowing reviews of the first two films.
While the Village Voice’s Andrew Sarris was not a fan of The Godfather, the quote used in the trailer – “a sloppy, self-indulgent movie” – is also not in his review. Similarly, while Daily News critic Rex Reed did also not like Apocalypse Now, the quote being attributed – “an epic piece of trash” – is also nowhere to be found.
“Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for ‘Megalopolis’” a spokesperson for the company said in a statement to Variety. “We offer our sincere apologies to the critics involved and to Francis Ford Coppola and American Zoetrope for this inexcusable error in our vetting process. We screwed up. We are sorry.”
Roger Ebert is accused of claiming that 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula is “a triumph of style over substance” yet it was also not in his very positive review.
Variety’s Owen Gleiberman was also featured and misquoted in the trailer. “Even if you’re one of those people who don’t like critics, we hardly deserve to have words put in our mouths,” he said in response.
Megalopolis premiered at this year’s Cannes film festival to mixed reviews with the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw calling it “a bloated, boring and bafflingly shallow film”. The film, described as “a Roman epic set in modern America” starring Adam Driver, cost Coppola a reported $120m and was bought by Lionsgate for US distribution.
The film is set to be released in September.
“Taking on critics might be an exciting and cathartic marketing tactic, but I suspect Megalopolis will need critics championing it when it actually comes out,” Ebiri writes. “And making up fake quotes from our heroes is probably not the best way to get us on your side.”
