‘Megalopolis’ trailer removed after including fake reviews: “We screwed up”
The filmography of Francis Ford Coppola has always been fraught with difficulties. Even with his most popular works, the many stories surrounding production issues and instances of bad luck are almost as iconic as the films themselves. Seemingly, his upcoming work, Megalopolis, is no different, as Lionsgate admit to an embarrassing blunder in the now-removed trailer.
Megalopolis is the ultimate passion project of Coppola, who first conceived the story all the way back in 1977. Due to be released to cinemas next month, the film, which follows the story of a defiant architect and his battles against a corrupt mayor, has already divided the audience at the Cannes Film Festival. On top of that, the film’s trailer has been recalled by the production company.
Multiple critics’ quotes were used in the trailer from throughout Coppola’s many years as a director. Negative quotes, attributed to various film critics, flash up on screen while the narrator announces, “Genius is often misunderstood.” The issue with the trailer was that the majority of those quotes from critics were entirely fabricated.
For instance, there are multiple quotes in the trailer apparently taken from reviews of The Godfather. Andrew Sarris of The Village Voice is attributed to the quote, “a sloppy, self-indulgent movie.” Meanwhile, Pauline Kael of The New Yorker allegedly said the mob movie was “diminished by its artsiness.” However, neither of these quotes can be found in the original reviews for The Godfather.
Once these fake quotes were discovered, Lionsgate quickly recalled the trailer before issuing a statement of apology. “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,” the company wrote, adding, “We screwed up. We are sorry.”
Coppola’s alleged behaviour
A new trailer, without the offending quotes, has since been issued ahead of the film’s September 27th release date. However, this embarrassing issue only adds to the recent bad publicity surrounding both Coppola and Megalopolis. Recently, details emerged about the director’s alleged unprofessional on-set actions and treatment of women.
Before footage came to light, Coppola denied the claims of inappropriate behaviour, maintaining that he is “not touchy-feely” and “too shy” and that his mother taught him to respect his female counterparts. He said: “But my mother told me that if you make an advance toward a woman, it means you disrespect her”.
With just over a month before it is set to be released to theatres, Megalopolis seems to be at risk of becoming overshadowed by issues like Coppola’s on-set behaviour and the Lionsgate trailer blunder.
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