Lionsgate has removed the trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s upcoming film Megalopolis following allegations that some of the movie review quotes featured in the preview were fabricated.
The film, which stars Adam Driver, Shia LaBeouf, Giancarlo Esposito, and Grace VanderWaal, is a passion project for Coppola.
It is inspired by the historical Catilinarian Conspiracy of 63 BC, a failed attempt by Roman aristocrat Lucius Sergius Catiline to overthrow the Roman Republic and end debt for lower classes.
Coppola, known for directing classics like The Godfather, self-financed this sci-fi epic, which has already stirred considerable debate among critics.
The controversy began when Vulture questioned the authenticity of the critical quotes included in the trailer, which criticized Coppola’s past work.
These quotes were attributed to renowned critics like Pauline Kael and Andrew Sarris. Critics argued that the trailer seemed to use negative comments about Coppola’s earlier films to suggest that these critics had misjudged them, although it appeared that the quotes may have been fabricated.
Lionsgate has retracted the trailer and issued an apology.
A spokesperson for the studio said: “Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for Megalopolis. 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.”
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