The movie studio Lionsgate says it “screwed up” after fabricating critics’ quotes in a recent trailer for the upcoming Francis Ford Coppola film, “Megalopolis.” “Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for ‘Megalopolis,’” a studio spokesperson said in a statement to TODAY.com.
“We offer our sincere apologies to the critics involved and to Francis Ford Coppola and (production company) American Zoetrope for this inexcusable error in our vetting process. We screwed up. We are sorry.
” Out in September, "Megalopolis" stars a large ensemble cast, including Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Laurence Fishburne and more. Coppola called the movie, which had a budget of $120 million, a "Roman epic set in modern America" in an interview with . The “Megalopolis” trailer in question, which has been pulled by Lionsgate but is still circulating via third-party accounts on , features a slew of quotes from critics slamming some of Coppola’s most beloved past films, including “The Godfather,” “Apocalypse Now” and “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
” The problem? These quotes from critics do not appear to exist. Speculation over the quotes’ veracity began circulating online soon after the trailer’s release, after film critic Bilge Ebiri revealed in a piece for that the quotes, which were attributed to renowned critics including the late Roger Ebert, appeared to be completely fabricated. “What’s the intention here?” Ebiri wrote.
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