Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis trailer is PULLED over use of fake critic quotes as Lionsgate admit they 'screwed up' and issue apology Have YOU got a story? Email [email protected] By Amelia Wynne For Mailonline Published: 11:53, 22 August 2024 | Updated: 11:59, 22 August 2024 e-mail 1 View comments Lionsgate recalled its new trailer for Francis Ford Coppola 's Megalopolis on Wednesday amid revelations that critics' quotes were fabricated. The trailer, released earlier Wednesday, included quotes from critics like Pauline Kael and Roger Ebert of earlier Coppola films that did not actually appear in their reviews.
'Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for Megalopolis,' a Lionsgate spokesperson said in a statement to The Associated Press. '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.' The trailer was released on Wednesday morning and aimed to position Coppola's latest film as a work of art that would withstand the test of time, much like his previous masterpieces The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. Lionsgate recalled its new trailer for Francis Ford Coppola 's Megalopolis on Wednesday amid revelations that critics' quotes were fabricated The trailer, released earlier Wednesday, included quotes from critics like Pauline Kael and Roger Ebert of earlier Coppola films that did not actually appear in their reviews (actor Adam Driver seen in the trailer) The video started by going back in time to show negative quotes from established critics for such films with the caption saying: 'Genius is often misunderstood.
' The intent, it seems, was to highlight the critical divisiveness of now-classics like The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, leaning into some of the more negative reactions to Megalopolis, the self-financed $120 million epic opening in September. But it was soon pointed out that many of the quotes were manufactured and could not be found in the original reviews The trailer attributed a quote to Kael that The Godfather was 'diminished by its artsiness.' But Kael loved The Godfather and this phrase was not used in her March 1972 review of the film for The New Yorker.
Ebert also did not write that Coppola's 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' was 'a triumph of style over substance.' Quotes from Rex Reed and Vincent Canby, about Apocalypse Now did not appear in their reviews either. Megalopolis has been decades in the making, and it received many mixed reviews upon its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.
'Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for Megalopolis,' a Lionsgate spokesperson said in a statement to The Associated Press (Aubrey Plaza seen in the trailer) The trailer was released on Wednesday morning and aimed to position Coppola's latest film as a work of art that would withstand the test of time, much like his previous masterpieces The Godfather and Apocalypse Now The video started by going back in time to show negative quotes from established critics for such films with the caption saying: 'Genius is often misunderstood' The film is set to have its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month before hitting theaters on September 27. The film was plunged into controversy in May when he was accused of hugging and kissing a female extra unannounced while filming a nightclub scene. The full-length trailer showcased the movie's all-star cast including Adam Driver , Aubrey Plaza and Shia LaBeouf .
Viewers are plunged into the futuristic world of New Rome, a combination of high-octane technology and a look inspired by classical antiquity. The plot is partly influenced by an infamous coup attempt in the Roman Republic, led by the warrior-statesman Catiline against ruling consuls Cicero and Hybrida. They enter the mind of the main character Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver), an architect whose artistic genius and innovation puts him squarely at odds with the status quo.
New Rome has been devastated by an accident, which Catilina sees as an opportunity to revamp a formerly crumbling town into a gleaming, sci-fi utopia. The trailer dropped three months after an extra whom Coppola allegedly kissed on the set of Megalopolis broke her silence on the scandal. A week earlier, Variety published two short behind-the-scenes videos shot while Coppola and his crew were filming a club scene in Atlanta that appeared to show the director leaning in to multiple actresses who were dancing.
One of the women in the video - Lauren Pagone - who appeared in multiple scenes in Megalopolis as an extra, says she was dancing during a live take of the club scene when Coppola allegedly approached her, pulled her towards him and hugged and kissed her. She told Variety : ' I was in shock. I didn't expect him to kiss and hug me like that.
I was caught off-guard. And I can tell you he came around a couple times.' Pagone said she decided to come forward when another extra seen in one of the two videos, Rayna Menz told Deadline the Oscar winner 'did nothing to make me or for that matter anyone on set feel uncomfortable.
' She said: 'I don't appreciate anybody speaking for me. I would never speak for that actress. I've kept my mouth shut.
I've kept quiet. 'But it's frustrating that she's putting out there, 'Hey, it was great for everyone' when she doesn't know what other people were feeling. You can't speak for anyone but yourself.
My experience was different.' Read More Francis Ford Coppola seen 'trying to kiss young female extras' on Megalopolis set Menz did not respond to an email from Variety requesting additional comment. Pagone - who has worked on shows including Paramount+'s Mayor of Kingstown and Apple TV+'s City on Fire said on every other project she had done, an intimacy coordinator was on hand during any scenes in which there was nudity.
According to a call sheet reviewed by the publication - several actresses were cleared to go topless for the nightclub sequence. Pagone was not nude and wore a top with a plunging neckline. Megalopolis intimacy coordinator Samantha McDonald previously told Variety that neither she nor fellow intimacy coordinator Ashley Anderson were on set for the nightclub scene, filmed on Feb.
14, 2023, at Atlanta's Tabernacle concert hall. Another member of the cast claimed to Variety in recent days that they had seen Coppola kissing 'multiple women' during a different scene involving a New Year's Eve celebration. It was claimed before filming started Coppola told the extras that he 'wanted them to act as they would at a typical holiday party and kiss each other at the end of the countdown' and added that he might jump in and kiss a few people himself.
' It was alleged that after calling cut, Coppola 'got up, stopped multiple women as they passed him and kissed them on the cheek.' The insider added: 'The women that I saw being kissed did not see him coming. He just basically grabbed them and planted the kiss on them without any kind of consent.
They all kind of laughed it off for a moment and then I could tell that they were just surprised.' The crew member that shot the video that Variety initially posted and who was on set during almost all of the shoot confirmed that Coppola kissed female extras during the New Year's Eve sequence - and added it was one of 'several instances' in which he had kissed extras. The film was plunged into controversy in May when he was accused of hugging and kissing a female extra unannounced while filming a nightclub scene One of the women in the video - Lauren Pagone - who appeared in multiple scenes in Megalopolis as an extra, says she was dancing during a live take of the club scene when Coppola allegedly approached her, pulled her towards him and hugged and kissed her The cast member added their experience on set was 'super weird and uncomfortable' and probably their 'worst experience on a set ever'.
Sources told the publication because Coppola financed the $120 million epic himself, there was no-one to complain to about his alleged behavior. The crew member also alleged that Coppola kept 'leaping up to hug and kiss several women, often inadvertently inserting himself into the shot and ruining it'. They claimed that after multiple takes, Coppola got on a microphone and announced to everyone in the room: 'Sorry, if I come up to you and kiss you.
Just know it's solely for my pleasure.' Dailymail.com has contacted representatives for Francis Ford Coppola for comment.
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