Lionsgate pulls Megalopolis trailer which features fake quotes from iconic critics

Update: That was quick. Lionsgate has decided to pull the trailer for Megalopolis due to the made-up quotes which appear. “Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for Megalopolis,” said a Lionsgate spokesperson. “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.“

— original article follows —

Lionsgate dropped the new trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis earlier today. The trailer begins with quotes from negative reviews of Coppola’s previous movies, such as The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, seemingly positioning Megalopolis as another future classic. That’s all well and good, except for the fact that the quotes appear to have been made up. Uh oh.

The Megalopolis trailer includes a quote from iconic critic Pauline Kael, who is cited as saying that The Godfather is “diminished by its artsiness.” Not only did Kael not say that, but her original review of The Godfather was very complimentary. The Village Voice critic Andrew Sarris is also quoted, trashing The Godfather as a “sloppy self-indulgent movie” that “doesn’t know what it wants to be.” Once again, those quotes do not appear in Sarris’ review.

Although Rex Reed didn’t mince words when it came to Apocalypse Now, the words “an epic piece of trash” don’t appear in his review. He did call it a “gumbo of pretentious twaddle,” which… come on, that would have been so much better to use. Roger Ebert is also quoted as calling Bram Stoker’s Dracula a “triumph of style over substance,” but it appears that quote was pulled from his review of Tim Burton’s Batman movie.

Variety’s Owen Gleiberman is also quoted in the Megalopolis trailer, calling Bram Stoker’s Dracula a “beautiful mess” while also commenting on its “absurdity.” His original review for Entertainment Weekly doesn’t contain these quotes. “Even if you’re one of those people who don’t like critics, we hardly deserve to have words put in our mouths. Then again, the trivial scandal of all this is that the whole ‘Megalopolis’ trailer is built on a false narrative,” Gleiberman said. “Critics loved ‘The Godfather.’ And though ‘Apocalypse Now’ was divisive, it received a lot of crucial critical support. As far as me calling ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ ‘a beautiful mess,’ I only wish I’d said that! Regarding that film, it now sounds kind.“

The official synopsis for Megalopolis reads: “Megalopolis is a Roman Epic fable set in an imagined Modern America. The City of New Rome must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina, a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero, who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero, the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.” The film is currently slated to hit theaters on September 27th.