Megalopolis Trailer Recalled By Lionsgate Following Fabricated Quote Controversy

In a extremely uncommon transfer, Lionsgate is pulling its new trailer for Megalopolis, unveiled early this morning.

The choice comes following controversy over critic quotes featured within the trailer, which digging by Vulture and different retailers revealed to be fabricated.

“Lionsgate is instantly recalling our trailer for Megalopolis,” mentioned a spokesperson for the studio. “We provide our honest apologies to the critics concerned and to Francis Ford Coppola and American Zoetrope for this inexcusable error in our vetting course of. We screwed up. We’re sorry.”

The quotes featured within the Megalopolis trailer spotlight earlier “criticisms” of Coppola’s now-iconic works, corresponding to The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, by such famed critics as The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael and Village Voice’s Andrew Sarris. Close to The Godfather, as an example, Kael is quoted as calling the movie “diminished by its artsiness,” with Sarris referring to it as a “sloppy self-indulgent film.”

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The messaging right here appeared to be that whereas Coppola’s Megalopolis was polarizing from the outset, dividing critics in its premiere at Cannes, the movie will in the end stand the take a look at of time as a basic, very similar to so lots of Coppola’s previous works have. Whereas it’s not clear how a slew of inaccurate critic quotes wound up within the new trailer, different critics cited included Roger Ebert, Vincent Canby, John Simon, Stanley Kauffmann, and Rex Reed.

The trailer debacle hasn’t been the one controversy Megalopolis has weathered en path to theaters, as Selection in July printed a report on supposed unprofessional conduct from Coppola, together with a video that appeared to depict the director kissing extras on set. Per week later, one of many ladies featured within the video, Rayna Menz, got here ahead to dispute our sister commerce’s account of occasions, telling Deadline, “He did nothing to make me or for that matter anybody on set really feel uncomfortable. I felt disgusted, I used to be blindsided by it as a result of it was a closed set. That somebody had video of that’s simply ridiculous and tremendous unprofessional.”

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Self-financed by Coppola at a price range north of $100M, Megalopolis is described as a Roman epic set in an imagined Trendy America. Within the movie, the Metropolis of New Rome should change, inflicting battle between Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver), a genius artist who seeks to leap right into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), who stays dedicated to a regressive establishment, perpetuating greed, particular pursuits, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel), the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to find what she really believes humanity deserves.

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Marking Coppola’s first characteristic outing since 2011’s Twixt, the movie additionally stars Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Kathryn Hunter, and Dustin Hoffman. Its producers embody Barry Hirsch, Fred Roos, and Michael Bederman.

Lionsgate is ready to launch Megalopolis in U.S. theaters on September 27.