'Megalopolis' trailer includes fake critic quotes; Lionsgate recalls video and issues apology

The trailer included several fabricated quotes attributed to critics like Roger Ebert and Pauline Kael.

Lionsgate is pulling its recent trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s ambitious film "Megalopolis" after it was discovered to feature numerous fake quotes from well-known film critics.

In a statement to Variety, a Lionsgate representative said, “Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for ‘Megalopolis’. 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.”

Released on Wednesday morning, the trailer aimed to showcase Coppola’s film as a timeless piece of cinema, akin to his acclaimed works "The Godfather" and "Apocalypse Now." However, it included several fabricated quotes attributed to critics like Roger Ebert and Pauline Kael, none of which appeared in their actual reviews.

Variety’s Owen Gleiberman was inaccurately cited in the trailer as describing the 1992 film "Bram Stoker’s Dracula" as “a beautiful mess” with “absurdity” in his Entertainment Weekly review from that period. Gleiberman remarked, “Even if you’re one of those people who don’t like critics, we hardly deserve to have words put in our mouths. Then again, the trivial scandal of all this is that the whole ‘Megalopolis’ trailer is built on a false narrative. Critics loved ‘The Godfather.’ And though ‘Apocalypse Now’ was divisive, it received a lot of crucial critical support. As far as me calling ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ ‘a beautiful mess,’ I only wish I’d said that! Regarding that film, it now sounds kind.”

Most of the trailer’s quotes remain unexplained, except for Roger Ebert’s “a triumph of style over substance,” which was actually taken from his 1989 review of “Batman,” not “Dracula” as claimed.

This incident adds to the controversies surrounding the $120 million film, which Coppola funded entirely himself. Last month, Variety reported on video footage showing Coppola attempting to kiss young female extras on set, accompanied by accounts of unprofessional behavior during production.

"Megalopolis" is scheduled to premiere in U.S. theaters on September 27.