Lionsgate has removed the latest trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s sci-fi epic Megalopolis from its online platforms, after it was criticized for using quotes from fake, negative reviews in the promo.
“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,” the studio said in a statement (per Variety). “We screwed up. We are sorry.”
The teaser began with seemingly scathing take-downs of Coppola’s most famous works, including The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. In 1972, The Village Voice’s Andrew Sarris supposedly called the former “sloppy” and “self-indulgent”, while National Review’s John Simon called the 1979 actioner “a spectacular failure”. Vulture later exposed the reviews to be fabricated.
“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,” Variety’s Owen Gleiberman said in a statement. “Critics loved The Godfather. And though Apocalypse Now was divisive, it received a lot of crucial critical support. As far as me [on] Bram Stoker’s Dracula, I only wish I’d said that! Regarding that film, it now sounds kind.”
Dracula got off surprisingly lightly, with Gleiberman “claiming” it to be “a beautiful mess”, as narrator Laurence Fishburne claimed that “true genius is often misunderstood” and that Coppola has “always been ahead of his time”.
While the sentiment ties in with the themes of the movie, which follows Adam Driver’s ambitious architect Cesar, whose vision for a new New York City is shut down by Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), it was obviously meant to poke fun at the reactions to Megalopolis so far, too. The almost entirely self-funded flick – which set Coppola back $120 million – has currently got a 53% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and allegedly received some boos when it screened at Cannes Film Festival back in May.
In our Megalopolis review, critic Anna Smith says the film is “almost so bad, it’s good”, while praising Driver’s “somber and serious” approach to the lead role.
Also starring Game of Thrones’ Nathalie Emmanuel, it releases on September 27. For more, check out our list of the best sci-fi movies of all time or our breakdown of the most exciting upcoming movies heading our way.
