Lionsgate has recalled its latest trailer for Francis Ford Coppola's film "Megalopolis" due to the inclusion of fake quotes from prominent film critics.
The company made the announcement while issuing an apology in a statement to Variety.
"Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for 'Megalopolis,' " a Lionsgate spokesperson said. "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."
The trailer, released Wednesday, was created to frame the upcoming film as another timeless film by Coppola similar to his earlier classics "The Godfather" and "Apocalypse Now."
The trailer incorrectly cited Variety's Owen Gleiberman as calling the 1992 film "Bram Stoker's Dracula" "a beautiful mess." It further quoted him as highlighting its "absurdity" when in fact, he had written that as part of a review when he worked for Entertainment Weekly at the time of its release.
"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," Gleiberman said of the trailer's falsified quotes. "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."
As Variety noted, it is unclear where most of the quotes featured in the trailer came from but Roger Ebert's comment, "a triumph of style over substance," was pulled from his 1989 review of "Batman," and not about "Dracula," as indicated in the trailer.
The trailer mishap is just the latest controversy to hit the $120 million film, which Coppola fully funded himself. Last month, Variety reported on footage showing Coppola attempting to kiss young female extras on set, along with accounts from crew members describing his unprofessional conduct during filming.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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