Lionsgate is recalling its most recent trailer for Francis Ford Coppola's epic Megalopolis, which included a plethora of fabricated quotes from famous film critics. The producers issued an apology for wrongly attributing quotes to movie critics in the trailer, reported by Variety.

Lionsgate apologises for made-up-critic quotes

“Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for Megalopolis,” a Lionsgate spokesperson said in a statement given to Variety. The spokesperson was quoted saying, “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.”

Megalopolis trailer depicts made-up-critique of The Godfather

The trailer, which was released on Wednesday morning, aimed to portray Coppola’s latest film as a timeless work of art, akin to his previous masterpieces The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. The video contained multiple quotes from critics criticizing Coppola's previous work, but none of the phrases, attributed to the likes of Roger Ebert and Pauline Kael, could be located in any of their reviews. Variety's Owen Gleiberman was mistakenly referred to as labeling the 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula" as "a beautiful mess" and highlighting its "absurdity" when he reviewed the film for Entertainment Weekly, where he was working at the time of its release.

Film critic slams falsified quotes

While reacting to the falsified quotes, Owen said, “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. 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 sources of most quotes in the trailer are unclear. The only exception is Roger Ebert’s comment, "a triumph of style over substance," which was taken from his 1989 review of Batman, not about Dracula as the trailer suggests.

Megalopolis will hits US theaters on September 27, 2024.

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