Yesterday, we reported that the marketing for Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis passion project was starting. A trailer arrived online overnight, and just as we were set to share it here, it was pulled by Lionsgate after a few hours. Why?
It turns out that the quotes used in the opening section of the trailer are not exactly what they seem. At best, taken out of context.
The trailer opened with quotes from famous film critics like Roger Ebert, Pauline Kael, and Rex Reed are made to appear as if they are refereeing to past Coppola works such as Apocalypse Now and The Godfather. They seemed to be saying that critics gave these films bad reviews when they were released, echoing the divisive nature of Megalopolis reviews so far.
The issue is, the quotes are not from reviews of Megalopolis… or even the movies they are attributed to. Lionsgate reacted to complaints from those quoted by pulling the trailer:
“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.”
Critic Owen Gleiberman was quoted in the trailer as referring to Coppola’s Dracula as a “beautiful mess”. He tells Variety he said no such thing:
“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.”
In another incident, Roger Ebert is quoted as referring to Dracula as “a triumph of style over substance”. In reality, he actually said this about Tim Burton’s Batman.
Genuine mistake? Lazy intern? Or is this some clever marketing ploy playing out?
Megalopolis arrives in cinemas on September 27th.