LIONSGATE removed the new Megalopolis trailer just hours after its release early Wednesday morning in a hilariously messy mishap.
The latest trailer for Francis Ford Coppola‘s overly ambitious passion project featured multiple made-up quotes from famous film critics.
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“Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for ‘Megalopolis,’” a spokesperson said in a statement provided 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.”
The trailer, released on August 21, aimed to reframe the controversy around Coppola’s new epic film, which premiered to polarizing reviews at Cannes 2024.
The trailer attempted to show that the movie was ahead of its time, much like Coppola’s previous masterworks, “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now.”
It proved its point with several quotes from critics panning Coppola’s previous movies – the problem was, as fans realized, that many of the quotes weren’t real.
Quotes attributed to Pauline Kael and Roger Ebert did not appear in the critics’ official reviews of those films.
The trailer showed Ebert describing Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” as a “triumph of style over substance,” but the quote was from Ebert’s “Batman” review directed by Tim Burton.
Kael was shown as calling The Godfather “diminished by its artsiness,” but she was one of the earliest fans of the film and its sequel and didn’t say this. The full list of fake quotes was compiled by Vulture (one or two were actually real.)
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‘THAT’S EMBARASSING!’
The news swirled on X fans piled on the Megalopolis marketing mega-stumble.
“I guess like, at least they apologised? I don’t know what’s happening this whole thing is so weird,” one X user wrote.
“Could’ve just waited until the film released and they’d have enough bad reviews for 20 trailers,” joked another.
“What? Seriously? They did that? And didn’t expect anyone to notice. lol” wrote a third.
“The press surrounding this movie has just been a disaster. Pretty much killed any anticipation I had,” lamented a fourth.
“That’s embarrassing,” a fifth wrote.
“That’s hilarious, did they just think no one would notice?” a sixth wrote.
A seventh said: “This movie’s marketing is like watching a slow-motion car crash.”
MEGAFLOPOLIS
Lionsgate is handling the distribution of Megalopolis in the U.S. and has planned a theatrical and IMAX release for September 27, 2024.
As movie lovers may know, Megalopolis is a $120 million passion project that Coppola self-funded.
The grandiose movie about a future New York City called New Rome, with Ayn Randian undertones, has had a rollout as convoluted as its plot.
The 2.5-hour film saw Coppola adopt an experimental style that allegedly let the actors improvise much of the script and the director would change the movie on the fly.
These methods proved divisive, leading to the resignation of the art department and visual effects team, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and rumors of general chaos on set.
The movie premiered at Cannes 2024 to a mixed reception at best.
One scene in which actor Adam Driver breaks the fourth wall is supposed to be a highlight.
It received no awards and left the masses wondering if it was a work of genius or madness.
Controversy has continued to follow the movie and Coppola, who allegedly made contact with and kissed extras in a leaked video from a movie scene, according to Page Six.
Coppola would enter the frame of the shots to kiss the extras, it was alleged, ruining the shots in an “uncommon” move, in insider told the outlet.
After multiple takes, Coppola allegedly told the cast and crew: “Sorry – if I come up to you and kiss you, just know it’s solely for my pleasure.”
Megalopolis is not without a star-studded cast, adding to its bizarre nature.
It stars Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Chloe Fineman, Dustin Hoffman and Jason Schwartzman.
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