Lionsgate has recalled the trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s multimillion-pound movie Megalopolis, after critic quotes it featured were exposed as fake.
Admitting “we screwed up,” the studio immediately pulled the new trailer, which had been released on Wednesday.
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 had included quotes from critics including Pauline Kael, Roger Ebert and Owen Gleiberman about other Coppola films – but the quotes never appeared in their reviews.
A voice over on the trailer said: “Genius is often misunderstood”.
The multi-Oscar-winning filmmaker, who is 85, has directed over 20 films, including The Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Misattributed quotes in the trailer included one from Kael that The Godfather was “diminished by its artsiness,” but in reality, Kael’s 1972 review for The New Yorker showed her to be a fan of the film.
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Ebert did not write that Bram Stoker’s Dracula was “a triumph of style over substance,” in his 1992 Chicago Sun-Times review, nor did Gleiberman call the film “a beautiful mess” or highlight the “absurdity” of the movie in his Entertainment Weekly review of the same year.
Quotes from John Simon, Rex Reed and Vincent Canby about Apocalypse Now – calling the 1979 film “a spectacular failure,” “an epic piece of trash,” and “hollow at the core” respectively – also did not appear in their reviews.
While it is not clear where most of the quotes came from, Ebert’s “style over substance” line has been traced back to his review of Batman in 1989.
Megalopolis received mixed reviews upon its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.
It has also come under scrutiny of late for alleged misconduct on set, after videos leaked of Coppola hugging and kissing extras during a club scene. Sky News has contacted Coppola’s representatives for comment.
A passion project, Coppola financed the sci-fi movie – which has taken several decades to make – entirely himself.
Described as a Roman epic fable set in an imagined modern America. The ensemble cast includes Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne and Dustin Hoffman.
It will be his first film release since 2011.
Megalopolis will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month, before coming to cinemas at the end of September.
Sky News has contacted Lionsgate for comment.
