Lionsgate has pulled the trailer for its upcoming film "Megalopolis" after it was discovered that the glowing reviews were fake. This is not the kind of attention they wanted for their star-studded Francis Ford Coppola movie.
A statement from Lionsgate was terse and apologetic: "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." This was reported by Entertainment Weekly, among others. The pulled trailer originally featured alleged critical pans from yesteryears, targeting other Coppola works such as "The Godfather" and "Apocalypse Now," which have since climbed to the peak of cinematic reverence.
The misrepresented quotes included quite the treasures, like "Diminished by its artiness" and "Hollow at the core," which were pointed to be non-existent upon review of the critics' original materials. Ironically, those films actually received praise from these same critics back in the day. For instance, Owen Gleiberman apparently called "Bram Stoker’s Dracula," "A beautiful mess." He did nothing of a sort, instead offering a more tempered view of "mesmerizing visual overkill" in his actual critique, as per the Entertainment Weekly.
This mistake is just the latest issue for "Megalopolis." Last month, FOX 5 Atlanta released footage that seemed to show Coppola acting inappropriately with young female extras on set. Reactions have been mixed, with some defending Coppola and others feeling shocked and uncomfortable.
